A common theoretical argument is that marriage and parenthood promote a sense of purpose, commitment, and responsibility that leads individuals to protect their health in order to care for others (Nock 1998, Waite & Gallagher 2000). Waite & Gallagher (2000) argue that cohabitation does not benefit health habits as much as marriage, in part because it lacks the symbolic meanings of marriage. Umberson’s (2003) mixed-methods approach sheds light on how the symbolic meaning of relationships with parents might influence adults’ health habits. Analysis of national, longitudinal data showed that a short-term effect of a parent’s death (up to three years following the death) was an increase in adults’ alcohol consumption; in the longer run (up to nine years later), however, those adults who lost a parent actually consumed less alcohol than their nonbereaved counterparts. Additional qualitative work suggested that many adults used alcohol to cope with insomnia and distress following a parent’s death, but, over time, bereaved adults focused more on their own eventual mortality (triggered by experiencing their parent’s death), which often led to more healthful behavior. Thus, initial distress may have undermined health habits, but symbolic meanings of mortality ultimately served to improve health habits.
