Happily married workers means healthier workers
Link shown to well-being, positive behaviors
The wellness connection between work and family has received some concrete underscoring from two studies originated at Iowa State University. In particular, they demonstrate how important a happy marriage is to employee health - and conversely, how important job satisfaction is to a happy marriage.
In "Marital Quality and Physical Illness: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis," the authors followed 364 couples over a period of 36 months.1 Among their findings:
The connection between marriage and well-being holds up only when the marriageis happy.
Couples whose marriages got better over the course of the study also reported improvements in their health.
The spouses whose relationships lost their luster got sick more often, more severely, or both.
These findings held true even when the researchers took into account varying work conditions, reports K.A.S. Wickrama, PhD, of the University's Center for Family Research in Rural Mental Health in Ames, IA, and lead author of both studies. "The [happily married employees] are more involved in better physical health behaviors and have better mental health. Also, if individuals have better marriages, they are involved in better mental health behaviors as well."
"The findings of this study confirm what most family or couple therapists have observed clinically - that is, that happy marriages [usually composed of happy individuals] make healthy persons," notes Robert L. Beck, associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and associate director of the Baylor Psychiatry Clinic.
In a second study, "Linking Occupational Conditions to Physical Health through Marital, Social, and Intrapersonal Processes,"2 Wickrama and his team found "If there are better working conditions [i.e., a shorter commute, lower work demands, work flexibility, less intensive hours, work autonomy], it overflows to the family and contributes to happy marriages."
This makes possible the best of both worlds - happy workers, happily married workers, and thus, healthier workers. "The better the occupational conditions, the better the marriage, which leads to better social and marital integration, good psychological resources, and healthy behaviors," says Wickrama.
Specifically, says Wickrama, his studies indicate that individuals who are happily married have better eating and sleeping habits than those who are not. What's more, in happy marriages each partner is more likely to be concerned about whether their spouse has a healthy lifestyle.
A legitimate wellness concern
While the state of an employee's marriage may traditionally be deemed too private for wellness professionals to address, the effects of a poor marriage can clearly manifest themselves in the way an employee feels and performs.
"Certainly, a worker who arrives at the job one morning in the wake of a conflictual marital situation at home will likely feel distracted, otherwise engaged, distraught, and preoccupied," says Beck. "Their concentration, their enthusiasm for work, collegial interaction, or interaction with supervisors or bosses will likely suffer if they leave an unfinished conflict, jump in their cars and head to work with no resolution. Think of how you feel when you come to work with the symptoms of a cold or flu. The `marital flu' can indeed be as problematic for proper work functioning."
Recognizing the symptoms
Wellness directors should learn to recognize the symptoms of "marital flu," says Beck. "Other than the obvious signs of physical abuse or the employee talking about tension at home, you might look for tearfulness, reports that the partner is not supportive, or the chronic absence of a spouse for something like an ultrasound when there is a pregnancy."
If a wellness professional does notice some of these symptoms, a referral to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is in order. "The EAP therapist can assist the couple in focusing on the nature of their difficulty, arriving at a plan of action and referring for ongoing couple treatment if that is determined to be the best course of action," says Beck.
If your company does not have an EAP, employees in marital trouble could be referred to psychiatric clinics, family service centers, or private practitioners in marriage and family therapy, many of whom are licensed as Marriage and Family Therapists. In addition, says Beck, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists in agencies, clinics, and practices offer these services. "Some ministers, rabbis, or priests are also skilled in marital counseling," he notes.
An issue not to be ignored
Not only is marital discord an appropriate concern for wellness professionals, says Beck, but it is significant enough to merit a campaign if the company's benefit plan does not cover marriage counseling.
"Unfortunately, many insurance plans do not cover marital treatment, even if recommended by a physician," Beck notes. This, he says, isa tremendous oversight on the part of employers and insurance companies. "Much preventative work takes place in couples counseling or treatment, which, if addressed in these settings, can affect the severity of depression, anxiety, and, as addressed in the studies, a happy marital union is predictive for a happy individual adjustment, as well as physical well-being for the partner[s]."
References
1. Wickrama KAS, Lorenz Frederick O, Conger Rand D, Elder Glen H JR. Marital quality and physical illness: A latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family 1997; 59:143-155.
2. Wickrama KAS, Lorenz Frederick O, Conger Rand D, et al. Linking occupational conditions to physical health through marital, social, and intrapersonal processes. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1997; 38:363-375.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content