Preston D B
Health Care Women Int. 1995 Mar-Apr;16(2):149-65. doi: 10.1080/07399339509516166.
A model of the relationship between the social context effects of marital status and gender role differences in health was tested in a sample of noninstitutionalized elderly. The conceptual model assumed that (a) marital status is a social context; (b) social contexts give rise to social interactions; (c) social interactions result in the assumption or modification of gender roles; and (d) gender roles determine the behavior of elderly individuals with regard to health, stress, coping, and social support. A random telephone survey of 6,585 households in six northeastern states resulted in a sample of 900 elderly 65 years of age or older. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the main effects, the joint effects, and the combined effects of gender and marital status on the independent variables as they related to health. Findings suggested that of the four marital contexts studied (married men and married women and unmarried men and unmarried women), married women were in the poorest health and most vulnerable to stress. For them, social support in terms of both number of confidantes and access to helping networks was not protective. These findings suggest that social context affects elderly women's health. The potential for expanding theories of women's health to include the social conditions in which they live is discussed.
在一个非机构化老年人样本中，对婚姻状况的社会环境影响与健康方面的性别角色差异之间的关系模型进行了测试。该概念模型假定：（a）婚姻状况是一种社会环境；（b）社会环境引发社会互动；（c）社会互动导致性别角色的形成或改变；（d）性别角色决定老年人在健康、压力、应对方式和社会支持方面的行为。对东北部六个州的6585户家庭进行的随机电话调查产生了一个由900名65岁及以上老年人组成的样本。采用分层回归分析来测试性别和婚姻状况对与健康相关的自变量的主效应、联合效应和综合效应。研究结果表明，在所研究的四种婚姻状况（已婚男性、已婚女性、未婚男性和未婚女性）中，已婚女性的健康状况最差，最容易受到压力的影响。对她们来说，无论是知己数量还是获得帮助网络方面的社会支持都没有起到保护作用。这些研究结果表明，社会环境会影响老年女性的健康。文中还讨论了将女性健康理论扩展到包括她们生活的社会条件的可能性。
