Union Status and Time-Intensive Health Behaviors among Young and Middle Aged Adults in the United States

Patrick M. Krueger, University of Colorado at Denver
Debbie Guenther, University of Colorado at Denver
Sarah Schmiege, University of Colorado at Denver

We examine the association between detailed union statuses (i.e., married, married with spouse absent, cohabiting, same-sex couples, never married, divorced, separated, widowed) and temporally intensive health behaviors (i.e., sleep duration, 5 measures of exercise frequency and duration) in the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults aged 18 to 55. We use Latent Class Analysis to identify 4 groups characterized by distinct exercise/sleep patterns. Multinomial logistic regression models examine the relationships between union statuses and membership in health behavior groups, and allow us to adjust for pecuniary resources as well as time intensive roles that are often associated with union status (i.e., parental status, work hours). We also examine gender differences in the relationship between union status and time intensive health behaviors.