科普知识学英语 异性夫妇整体健康状况好于同性夫妇.docVIP

Same-sex couples who live together have worse health than married opposite-sex couples and similar health as opposite-sex couples who are living together (after adjusting for socioeconomic differences), according to a new study from researchers at Rice University. Families, Resources and Adult Health: Where Do Sexual Minorities Fit? is one of the first studies comparing the health of married couples, cohabitating opposite-sex couples and cohabiting same-sex couples. The study appears in the March 2013 Journal of Health and Social Behavior. ? Previous studies have indicated there are health disadvantages to living together versus being married, but almost no previous research has focused on same-sex couples, said Justin Denney, assistant professor of sociology, associate director of the Kinder Institute Urban Health Program at Rice and the studys lead author. This study is one of the first to show that the mental and physical health disadvantages of unmarried couples living together may extend to same-sex couples. ? Denney said the findings were somewhat surprising given that previous research documents a strong positive relationship between higher socio-economic status and good health. The study showed that cohabitating same-sex couples have greater socio-economic resources than both married couples and cohabiting opposite-sex couples. Same-sex couples have average household incomes of $10,000 more per year than married couples and approximately $18,000 more per year than cohabiting opposite-sex couples, and they have approximately one more year of education. ? Denney said that their research showed that health disadvantages between the two types of cohabiting couples occur for different reasons. For opposite-sex cohabiters, health disadvantages are partially the result of lower socio-economic status; for same-sex couples, the causes of the health disadvantages are undetermined but are not tied to socio-economic status, he said. ? Our research shows that cohabita