Does Marriage Increase Dementia? An Answer from the Larger Body of Research

A new research article out in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia comes to a very interesting and contrarian conclusion: “Unmarried individuals may have a lower risk of dementia compared to married adults.”

This conclusion has been getting a good deal of press of late. But the big questions are: Is this true? Does being married really contribute to greater risk of dementia in older age?

We should all be skeptical of this conclusion, and Daily Citizen explains why.

First, a virtual mountain range of strong and consistent medical, psychiatric and social science research has consistently shown that being married boosts all important measures of life well-being including physical, emotional and cognitive health for women, men, and children. Some of the most foundational scholarly studies establishing this fact are found here, here, here and here. This is also shown to be internationally true. A number of important books have documented the same facts, here, here, here and here.

One of the most recent surveys of the research on marriage and improved well-being was published by the University of Virginia’s Brad Wilcox and it indicates that it is not just that healthy people are selected into marriage, but that the state of being married actually improves physical, mental and life health.

So, it is curious when a study surfaces pointing to contradictory findings on marriage’s relationship to improved mental well-being. And this new study reports that, compared to married individuals, widowed, divorced and never-married people “were at lower dementia risk” even while the very opening line of the study admits “Being married has been related to better health and longevity.” These authors also admit “marriage provides social, psychological and economic benefits, unavailable through other relationships that, in turn, support healthier and longer lives.”

Yet, these researchers report their findings show widowed, divorced and never-married individuals had 50% or lower risk of dementia compared to their married counterparts. So, this study is notable because its findings are contrary, and dramatically so, to the larger body of research on this topic as we shall see.

The authors admit in the discussion section of their paper,

Our findings that all unmarried groups (widowed, divorced, never married) were associated with a lower dementia risk relative to married participants is contrary to most previous longitudinal studies, which have reported that married individuals have a lower risk of cognitive impairment and dementia than unmarried groups [emphasis added].

This new study also admits, “There is some evidence of a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias among never-married individuals, compared to married ones.”

There certainly is.

In fact, most of the research on this topic indicates marriage provides protection against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, over and above all other relational statuses. Let us examine some examples in this larger body of knowledge.

A 2020 study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences explains its findings on the marriage premium on cognitive health this way: “All unmarried groups, including the cohabiting, divorced/separated, widowed, and never married, had significantly higher odds of developing dementia over the study period than their married counterparts; economic resources and, to a lesser degree, health-related factors accounted for only part of the marital status variation in dementia.”

This last section is saying that marriage itself provides benefits through close, caring association for life among husband and wife.

A 2018 meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal examining 15 separate academic studies reports, “Being married is associated with reduced risk of dementia.” They found that lifelong single people had a 42% higher risk of developing dementia while the widowed had a 20% higher risk compared to marrieds. They found no higher risk for the divorced compared to marrieds. The analysis reports, “Being married may change individuals’ exposure to other protective and risk factors throughout their subsequent lifespan; this is supported by our identification of confounding factors affecting this risk and evidence showing married people to be more likely to have a healthy lifestyle.”

This research team adds,

Our findings, from large populations, across numerous countries and time periods are the strongest evidence yet that married people are less likely to develop dementia.

A 2020 research report in the journal Innovation in Aging, examining if race made a difference in greater onset of dementia, states, “Previous research has shown that unmarried individuals (i.e., divorced, widowed, and never married) had a higher risk of dementia than their married counterparts.” They explain marriage was generally protective for both black and white individuals, but note, “The associations between unmarried status (i.e., cohabiting, widowed, and never married) and dementia were stronger among blacks than whites.”

A 2016 study published in the British Medical Journal examining nearly two and half million Swedish patients found “each non-married subcategory to be associated with a significantly higher risk of dementia than the married group, with the highest risk observed among … those who were divorced or single.” These scholars add, “The estimated protective effect of marriage persisted even after adjustment for several potential confounders.” They also explain, “Our findings are consistent with previous study results showing a beneficial effect of marriage on dementia, suggesting that this association is highly robust.”

A 2012 study in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology on serious memory loss reports, “Married people showed significantly better memory performances than singles” of all categories. This research team explains their “findings demonstrate that the positive relation found between marriage and health can be extended to the relation between marriage and cognitive performance.”

These findings demonstrate why it is never wise to base conclusions on an important topic of inquiry on just one new study. New findings, however contrary or agreeable they might be, must be compared with the larger body of knowledge on that topic. If the new, contrary finding is correct, responsible conclusions must wait for additional well-designed and executed studies to back up this new conclusion. Until then, the larger more consistent body of careful research is what holds the day. That slow, consistent move in research findings is how shifting conclusions in a scientific field happen.

One or two lone studies over and against a larger body of consistent data do not a paradigm shift make. That is why studies like this present one on marriage and dementia should not be taken as the new truth.

Related Articles and Resources

Why You Should Care About the Growing Positive Power of Marriage

Family Scholars Explain the Current Marriage Paradox in America

New Research Shows Married Families Matter More Than Ever

Important New Book Explains Why Marriage Still Matters

Why Marriage Really Matters – 3 Focus on the Family Reports

Reclaiming the Truth About Marriage

Research Update: The Compelling Health Benefits of Marriage

Important New Research on How Married Parents Improve Child Well-Being

Brad Wilcox Exhorts Young People to ‘Get Married’

New Research: Marriage Still Provides Major Happiness Premium

Cohabitation Still Harmful – Even as Stigma Disappears