Contemporary Marriage in Cambodia.

Previous work has suggested that the drastic Khmer-Rouge-era changes to the family institution have not endured. Potentially more influential in the long term were the rapid socio-economic changes Cambodia underwent starting in the 1990s. We use four waves of the Cambodian Demographic and Health Surveys from 2000 to 2014 to document contemporary trends in marriage formation and dissolution. We find little change in the centrality of marriage, as both cohabitation and sex between unmarried partners remain quite rare. Marriage also continues to be nearly universal and early for women, but we find that the transition to self-arranged "love" marriages occurred earlier and faster than previously documented. A sign that parental endorsement may still matter though, marriage dissolution continues to be associated with spousal characteristics deemed undesirable by past generations. While higher among recent marriage cohorts, especially in the first year after marriage, levels of marriage dissolution remain comparatively low overall.

Gray Divorce During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Drawing on emerging evidence that the pandemic appears to have impeded both the divorce process and actual divorces, we examined whether the gray divorce rate (i.e., divorce among adults aged 50+) declined following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Data from the 2019 and 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) were used to track changes in gray divorce. With the 2021 ACS, we estimated pandemic-era gray divorce rates across sociodemographic subgroups for middle-aged and older adults. We then pooled the 2019 (N = 892,700) and 2021 (N = 898,828) data to examine whether the risk of divorce changed with the onset of the pandemic net of sociodemographic characteristics, distinguishing trends for middle-aged versus older adults. RESULTS: The gray divorce rate dropped following the onset of the pandemic. This drop was more pronounced among middle-aged than older adults. For older adults, the divorce rate essentially stalled. DISCUSSION: The gray divorce rate now mirrors the overall trend of modest decline in U.S. divorce patterns. Whether the gray divorce rate continues to shrink as society transitions to a postpandemic environment awaits future research.

Marital dissolution and associated factors in Hosanna, Southwest Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Marriage dissolution, divorce, or separation from a spouse or common-law partner is a serious public health concern due to its increasing prevalence and devastating health and socio-economic consequences. Evidence suggests an increased risk of marital instability in Ethiopia. In addition, the extent of marital dissolution and other related factors have increased in the study area. Despite these, the prevalence of marital dissolution and the influence of associated factors (main reason for marriage, and parental history of marital dissolution) on marital dissolution has not been assessed in the study area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of marital dissolution and its associated factors among residents of Hosanna town in southwestern Ethiopia in 2022. METHODS: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study among 459 randomly selected Hosanna Township residents. We used structured questionnaires to collect data. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were performed to describe the data and test-associated factors, respectively. A p-value less than 0.05 was used to define statistical significance. We used STATA 14 and IBM SPSS 25.0 computer packages to process data. RESULTS: Out of the 459 potentially eligible individuals, 450 participants properly responded to the questionnaires yielding a response rate of 98.04%. Of these, 218 (52.9%) were female. The commonly reported reason for marriage was to have children 150 (36.9%). The prevalence rate of marital dissolution was 26.0% (95% CI: (21.7%, 30.3%)). The participant's level of education and the primary reasons (motives) why they get married were statistically significantly associated with marital dissolution. The odds of marital dissolution was higher among participants who completed secondary education (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.26-8.17) compared to those having no formal education. The participants who married for companionship reasons (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.11-0.83) had significantly lower odds of marriage dissolution compared with those who married for financial security. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the prevalence of marital dissolution was high. The participant's level of education and the primary reasons (motives) why they getting married were significantly associated with marital dissolution. Therefore, an integrated, community-based approach should be developed to prevent marital dissolution.

Women's Divergent Union Transitions After Marital Dissolution in the United States.

In the United States, high marital instability calls for more research on union transitions after marital dissolution. Previous studies focus on remarriage and pay little attention to rising post-dissolution cohabitation. In this study, I apply marital search theory to examine the level, pace, and differentials of repartnering (remarriage or cohabitation vs. staying single) and the exit from cohabitation (remarriage or dissolution vs. staying cohabiting). Adopting union history data from the pooled National Survey of Family Growth (2011-2017), I track union transitions among a sample of N = 2129 women. Analyses based on life tables and discrete-time event history analyses reveal important findings. First, most women repartner after marital dissolution. Compared to remarriage, cohabitation occurs more frequently and shows a quicker pace. Second, post-dissolution cohabitation is short-lived, and its transition to remarriage is more common than to dissolution. Third, these union transitions differ by demographic and socioeconomic predictors, including age, race and ethnicity, and education. Overall, I reveal that post-dissolution union transition is a divergent and unequal process, and I further discuss the implications on theory and family inequality.

Anxiety, depression and associated factors among recently divorced individuals.

BACKGROUND: In divorce research, studies using large samples, very recently divorced individuals and validated measures of depression and anxiety with available background populations for comparison are missing. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate symptoms of depression and anxiety among recently divorced Danes and assess the explanatory power of relevant sociodemographic- and divorce-related variables on these symptoms. METHODS: The study utilized an online cross-sectional design and a total of 1856 Danish citizens recruited through the Danish State Administration. Average scores for depression and anxiety were compared to the Danish background population and regression analyses were conducted to assess the explanatory power of sociodemographic- and divorce characteristics on symptoms of depression and anxiety. RESULTS: Divorcees reported significantly higher levels of both depressive and anxiety symptoms than the background population with a large proportion of the sample scoring equal to or higher than generally recommended cut-off values for risk of suffering from a psychiatric diagnosable case of depression or anxiety. Both sociodemographic- and divorce characteristics were predictive of symptoms of depression and anxiety. CONCLUSION: The findings underline the relevance of public health intervention targeting symptoms of depression and anxiety among recently divorced individuals.

Demography of remarriage and fertility desire among women receiving antiretroviral therapy in South West Nigeria.

Background: In view of sociocultural norms surrounding marriage and childbearing in South West Nigeria, fertility desire may be stronger among remarried women living with HIV. This article describes the characteristics of remarriage and its relationship to fertility desire.Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among HIV-positive women aged 18-49 years at the Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) clinic, College of Medicine/University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria between November and December 2015. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and generalised linear models.Results: Overall, 123 (17.3%) of 711 women had experienced remarriage. Significant factors among remarried women were a lack of formal education (ORadj = 3.35, CI: 1.46-7.72); polygamous family (ORadj = 2.65, CI: 1.71-4.12), and serodiscordant union (ORadj = 1.97, CI: 1.14-3.41). Fertility desire was expressed by 410 women (57.7%). After controlling for demographic, socio-economic, and HIV-care characteristics, remarried women were 2.5 times as likely to have fertility desire compared to their counterparts who never remarried (ORadj = 2.49, CI: 1.43-4.33). Younger age was significantly associated with higher odds of fertility desire. Other factors negatively associated with fertility desire were education (ORadj = 0.30, CI: 0.12-0.74) and number of surviving children (ORadj = 0.28, CI: 0.22-0.34).Conclusion: HIV-care and treatment programmes need to pay attention to reproductive concerns, especially among women in second and higher order marriages.

Charting self-esteem during marital dissolution.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to chart changes in self-esteem before and after marital dissolution to identify the factors that shape individuals' self-esteem during this life transition. METHOD: We analyzed 10 annual waves of self-esteem data from 291 divorcees from a nationally representative panel study of the Netherlands (N ~ 13,000). We charted the course of self-esteem before and after marital dissolution and tested a broad set of moderator variables that may shape individuals' self-esteem trajectories. RESULTS: The average divorcee experienced significant decrease in self-esteem preceding marital dissolution and remained stable afterward. There were substantial individual differences in self-esteem trajectories, both before and after marital separation. Divorcees who experienced financial hardship, were affiliated with a church or religion, or scored low in Conscientiousness showed the most pronounced decrease in self-esteem during the years approaching marital dissolution. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of assessing people multiple times before and after marital dissolution to dissect how people approach and respond to this life event. Results are consistent with perspectives that view divorce as an opportunity to abate the strains of an unhappy marriage.

Rural-urban differences in the predictive influence of sex preference on marital dissolution in Nigeria.

This study examined the influence of place of residence on sex preference as a predictor of marital dissolution in Nigeria. It also appraised the mediation of socio-demographic factors on the relationship between sex preference and marital dissolution. Data were sourced from the 2018 demographic and health survey of Nigeria. Analyses involved the use of descriptive statistics, Pearson chi-square test and binary logistic regression models. Generally, marital dissolution significantly occurred more in rural than in urban areas. While more respondents had no child sex preference, preference for boys was significantly more among the urban women compared to the rural women. Irrespective of place of residence, sex preference was not a significant predictor of marital dissolution in Nigeria as the unadjusted models of marital dissolution and sex preference indicated that preference for more boys significantly decreased the odds of marital dissolution in the rural (OR=0.84; p=0.05), urban (OR=0.67; p=0.001), and total population (OR=0.77; p=0.001). In addition, preference for more girls significantly decreased the likelihood of marital dissolution in the rural (OR=0.82; p=0.002) and total populations (OR=0.84; p=0.05). Moreover, in the full adjusted model of the total population, preference for more males (OR=0.57; p=0.002) was also significantly associated with decreased odds of marital dissolution. Conversely, other factors that significantly increased the odds of marital dissolution included educational attainment, intimate partner violence, religion, being employed, polygamous unions, and region of residence. Women should achieve higher levels of education and be engaged in income earning occupations as mitigation measures against marital dissolution. Anti-dissolution campaigns should be initiated, especially in rural areas with high levels of intimate partner violence and in regions with relatively high incidences of marital dissolution/p-/p-1.

Friend or foe? Postdivorce hostility among recently divorced individuals.

High levels of hostility often occur during and postdivorce and may significantly affect the quality of life, parent-child relationships, and social functioning of divorcees. Moreover, hostility may predict aggressive and violent behavior. This study sought to (a) compare average general hostility levels of a large sample of Danish divorcees to the norms of the general adult Danish population, (b) compare general hostility levels between male and female divorcees, and (c) investigate the explanatory value of various sociodemographic and divorce-related factors on postdivorce general hostility and whether these factors differ across gender. Cross-sectional baseline data (N = 1,856) from a larger randomized controlled trial study was used in this study. Normative data from a general sample of Danish adults (N = 2,040) was used for comparisons of hostility levels between our study sample and the Danish background population. This study found that male and female divorcees did not report significantly different hostility levels. However, participants reported significantly higher hostility levels postdivorce than the comparative Danish norm sample. Significant predictors of postdivorce hostility were lower age, lower educational level, infidelity as a reason for divorce, higher degree of postdivorce conflict, worse communication with the former spouse, the former spouse as the initiator of the divorce, and new partner status with neither divorcees having a new partner, or only the former spouse having a new partner. The predictive strength of the factors did not differ across gender. The findings may be especially relevant for interventions targeting problematic outcomes postdivorce (e.g., preventing aggressive behavior).

"Divorce burnout" among recently divorced individuals.

Traditionally, the concept of burnout has been applied to the workspace but recent research suggests its applicability to more general contexts such as the family sphere. The present study applies burnout to the divorce context and (a) proposes and statistically tests the Divorce Burnout Model (DBM), (b) investigates the contribution of sociodemographic variables and divorce characteristics to burnout scores, and (c) investigates the relationship between burnout scores and the number of sick days and days of absence from work. Using a cross-sectional design and a sample of 1,856 recently divorced Danish citizens, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis verified the DBM´s good fit to data. Using this model, for men, it was found that fewer previous divorces, former spouse initiation of divorce, not having a new partner and a higher degree of conflict significantly predicted higher levels of divorce burnout. For women, lower income, former spouse divorce initiation, not having a new partner, and a higher level of conflict significantly predicted higher levels of divorce burnout. Across gender, burnout scores were found to significantly predict number of sick days and days of absence from work in the past 3 months over and above sociodemographic variables, divorce related characteristics, and depressive symptoms.

Extramarital Sex and Marital Dissolution: Does Identity of the Extramarital Partner Matter?

Panel data from married adults (N = 1,853) in the General Social Survey, a probability sample of the adult household population of the United States, were used to evaluate (a) the longitudinal association between extramarital sex and marital dissolution 2 years later, (b) whether probability of marital dissolution differed as a function of the type of relationship people reported having with their extramarital sex partner, and (c) the degree to which these associations were incremental to participants' level of marital satisfaction at baseline. Compared to people who reported not engaging in extramarital sex, those who reported engaging in extramarital sex at baseline were significantly more likely to be separated or divorced 2 years later. Furthermore, the association between having extramarital sex with a close personal friend and marital dissolution was particularly strong. These associations remained statistically significant after adjusting for marital satisfaction. Results suggest that the identity of the extramarital sex partner and the type of relationship a person has with him or her has important implications for probability of marital dissolution above and beyond the contribution of marital satisfaction.

Se utilizaron los datos de panel de adultos casados (N = 1,853) de la Encuesta Social General (General Social Survey), una muestra probabilística de la población de hogares de adultos de los Estados Unidos, para evaluar (a) la asociación longitudinal entre las relaciones sexuales extramatrimoniales y el divorcio dos años después, (b) si la probabilidad de divorcio difirió como una función del tipo de relación que las personas informaron tener con su pareja de relaciones sexuales extramatrimoniales y (c) el grado en el cual estas asociaciones aumentaron según el nivel de satisfacción matrimonial de los participantes al inicio del estudio. En comparación con las personas que informaron no tener relaciones sexuales extramatrimoniales, aquellos que sí informaron tener relaciones extramatrimoniales al comienzo del estudio tuvieron muchas más probabilidades de estar separados o divorciados dos años después. Además, la asociación entre tener relaciones sexuales extramatrimoniales con un amigo íntimo personal y el divorcio fue particularmente fuerte. Estas asociaciones continuaron siendo estadísticamente significativas después de ajustar teniendo en cuenta la satisfacción conyugal. Los resultados sugieren que la identidad de la pareja extramatrimonial y el tipo de relación que una persona tiene con ella repercuten considerablemente en la probabilidad de divorcio más allá del aporte de la satisfacción matrimonial.

Gray divorce: Explaining midlife marital splits.

Recent research suggests that one out of every four divorces in the United States is now "gray," meaning that at least one half of the couple has reached the age of 50 when the marriage breaks down. To understand why this age group-the Baby Boomer generation-is splitting up, this study conducted 40 in-depth, semistructured interviews with men and 40 with women who have experienced a gray divorce in their lifetimes. Respondents' beliefs in an expressive individualistic model of marriage, where partnerships are only valuable if they help individuals achieve personal growth, were compared against their potential adherence to what I call a commitment-based model of marriage, where binding, romantic love holds couples together unless there is severe relationship strain. The results demonstrated that the commitment-based model most strongly governs marriage and the decision to divorce among Baby Boomers for both sexes, although some specific reasons for divorce differ for men and women.

Human Mating Theory, Migration, and Marital Dissolution.

Marriage dissolution has been extensively analyzed in the last few decades, looking for the determinants of this well-known phenomenon, but so far the relationship between female migration and marriage dissolution does not seem to have been thoroughly investigated. This work aimed to analyze the correlation between marriage dissolution and migration, which might bias the sex ratio within a given society, introducing new social and cultural values. Considering the Regions of Italy between 2002 and 2007 (i.e., 120 observations), several multiple regression models (OLS) were presented to test the proposed hypothesis, applying the robust option. The dependent variable of our empirical investigation was a marriage dissolution index, while the key explanatory variables were a sex ratio and several female rates. Based on the results, the hypothesis of a statistically significant positive relation between the influx of female immigrants and household dissolution could be supported (i.e., p < .01). However, not all migrating women are the same and a different impact is foreseeable according to the nature of this influx. Indeed, given a 1% influx of unmarried foreign females, increasing the sex ratio within society, marital dissolutions grow by 5381 for every 100,000 marriages. In the case of a 1% influx of Italian unmarried females, marital dissolutions grew by 3173 for every 100,000 marriages. Therefore, females could have specific sexual, social and cultural characteristics, which might be able to increase (or decrease) the probability of men being driven to sexual infidelity, thus leading to a higher frequency of marriage dissolutions.

Family composition and marital dissolution in rural Nepal, 1945-2008.

The presence, number, sex, and age composition of children within families can have important influences on couples' marital outcomes. Children are valued across settings, but their value in settings where there is an absence of formalized social security is distinctive. This paper explores the influences of childlessness, and different number, age, and sex compositions of children, on the odds of marital dissolution among couples in rural Nepal. Results reveal that childless couples face significantly higher odds of dissolution than couples with at least one child, and each additional child-up to three children-reduces couples' odds of dissolution. Furthermore, having a child aged under two reduces couples' odds of marital dissolution, but interactions reveal that this age effect only holds at parity one. Surprisingly, despite a history of son preference in this setting, there is no evidence that children's within-parity sex composition is associated with the odds of marital dissolution.

Influence of Heterogamy by Religion on Risk of Marital Dissolution: A Cohort Study of 20,000 Couples.

Heterogamous marriages, in which partners have dissimilar attributes (e.g. by socio-economic status or ethnicity), are often at elevated risk of dissolution. We investigated the influences of heterogamy by religion and area of residence on risk of marital dissolution in Northern Ireland, a country with a history of conflict and residential segregation along Catholic-Protestant lines. We expected Catholic-Protestant marriages to have elevated risks of dissolution, especially in areas with high concentrations of a single religious group where opposition to intermarriage was expected to be high. We estimated risks of marital dissolution from 2001 to 2011 for 19,791 couples drawn from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (a record linkage study), adjusting for a range of compositional and contextual factors using multilevel logistic regression. Dissolution risk decreased with increasing age and higher socio-economic status. Catholic-Protestant marriages were rare (5.9 % of the sample) and were at increased risk of dissolution relative to homogamous marriages. We found no association between local population composition and dissolution risk for Catholic-Protestant couples, indicating that partner and household characteristics may have a greater influence on dissolution risk than the wider community.

Predictors of Marital Dissolution During a Period of Rapid Social Change: Evidence From South Asia.

Few studies have examined the causes and consequences of marital dissolution in non-Western settings. This article explores the fundamental factors that may predict marital dissolution in a mainly agrarian setting in South Asia, where collectivism has historically been valued over individualism and where life is centered on the family. Using event history analyses with retrospective life history data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study conducted in rural Nepal, I explore the possible predictors of marital dissolution. Results suggest that couples in which wives married at older ages and chose their spouse in conjunction with their parents face lower risk of marital dissolution, while wives' work increases the risk. Moreover, couples married for longer durations and couples who have more children face lower risks of marital dissolution. The influences of many of these factors have changed over the last few decades, pointing toward the important role of changing social context on marital trajectories.

Coparenting after marital dissolution and children's mental health: a systematic review / Coparentalidade após a dissolução conjugal e saúde mental das crianças: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract Objective: Research has shown that coparenting is a vital family mechanism in predicting mental health in children and adolescents. Considering the increasing prevalence of marital dissolution in Western societies, the objective of this systematic review was to summarize the key results of empirical studies that tested the association between mental health of children and coparenting after marital dissolution. Data source: The studies were obtained from three databases (PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Knowledge), published between January 2000 and October 2014. The titles, abstracts, and key words of the generated citations were independently reviewed by two investigators to consensually select the articles that met the inclusion criteria. Articles that used psychometrically valid tools to measure at least one mental health indicator and at least one dimension of coparenting in samples with divorced parents were included in the review. Data synthesis: Of the 933 screened articles, 11 met the inclusion criteria. Significant positive associations were found between coparental conflict and behavioral problems and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatization. Significant positive associations were also found between other specific dimensions of coparenting (coparental support, cooperation, and agreement), overall mental health, self-esteem, and academic performance. Conclusions: The integrated analysis of these studies suggests that coparenting is a key mechanism within the family system for the prediction of child mental health after marital dissolution, and thus, it is recommended that pediatricians, psychologists, and other health professionals consider coparenting as a psychosocial variable for children's mental health assessment and diagnosis.

Resumo Objetivo: A investigação tem demonstrado a coparentalidade como um dos mecanismos familiares centrais na predição da saúde mental em crianças e adolescentes. Considerando o aumento da prevalência da dissolução conjugal nas sociedades ocidentais, o objetivo desta revisão sistemática foi sumariar os resultados-chave de estudos empíricos que testaram a associação entre a saúde mental das crianças e a coparentalidade pós-dissolução conjugal. Fontes dos dados: Foram triados estudos de três bases de dados (PsycInfo, Pubmed e Web ofKnowledge), publicados entre janeiro de 2000 e outubro de 2014. Os títulos, resumos e palavras-chave das citações geradas foram independentemente analisados por dois investigadores para selecionar consensualmente os artigos que cumpriam os critérios de inclusão. Foram incluídos artigos que utilizassem instrumentos psicometricamente válidos para medir pelo menos um indicador de saúde mental e pelo menos uma dimensão da coparentalidade em amostras com pais divorciados. Síntese dos dados: Dos 933 artigos triados, 11 cumpriram os critérios de inclusão. Foram encontradas associações significativamente positivas entre o conflito coparental e problemas de comportamento e sintomas de ansiedade, depressão e somatização. Foram também encontradas associações significativamente positivas entre outras dimensões específicas da coparentalidade (suporte, cooperação e acordo coparentais) saúde mental global, autoestima e rendimento acadêmico. Conclusões A análise integradora destes estudos sugeriu que a coparentalidade é um mecanismo-chave dentro do sistema familiar para a predição da saúde mental infantil pós-dissolução conjugal, sendo recomendado que pediatras, psicólogos e outros profissionais de saúde considerem a coparentalidade como uma variável psicossocial na avaliação e diagnóstico da saúde mental em crianças.

Coparenting after marital dissolution and children's mental health: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Research has shown that coparenting is a vital family mechanism in predicting mental health in children and adolescents. Considering the increasing prevalence of marital dissolution in Western societies, the objective of this systematic review was to summarize the key results of empirical studies that tested the association between mental health of children and coparenting after marital dissolution. DATA SOURCE: The studies were obtained from three databases (PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Knowledge), published between January 2000 and October 2014. The titles, abstracts, and key words of the generated citations were independently reviewed by two investigators to consensually select the articles that met the inclusion criteria. Articles that used psychometrically valid tools to measure at least one mental health indicator and at least one dimension of coparenting in samples with divorced parents were included in the review. DATA SYNTHESIS: Of the 933 screened articles, 11 met the inclusion criteria. Significant positive associations were found between coparental conflict and behavioral problems and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatization. Significant positive associations were also found between other specific dimensions of coparenting (coparental support, cooperation, and agreement), overall mental health, self-esteem, and academic performance. CONCLUSIONS: The integrated analysis of these studies suggests that coparenting is a key mechanism within the family system for the prediction of child mental health after marital dissolution, and thus, it is recommended that pediatricians, psychologists, and other health professionals consider coparenting as a psychosocial variable for children's mental health assessment and diagnosis.

Marital Histories and Heavy Alcohol Use among Older Adults.

We develop a gendered marital biography approach-which emphasizes the accumulating gendered experiences of singlehood, marriage, marital dissolution, and remarriage-to examine the relationship between marital statuses and transitions and heavy alcohol use. We test this approach using individual-level (n = 10,457) and couple-level (n = 2,170) longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, and individual-level (n = 46) and couple-level (n = 42) in-depth interview data. Quantitative results show that marriage, including remarriage, reduces men's but increases women's drinking relative to being never married and previously married, whereas divorce increases men's but decrease women's drinking, with some variation by age. Our qualitative findings reveal that social control and convergence processes underlie quantitative results. We call attention to how men's and women's heavy drinking trajectories stop, start, and change direction as individuals move through their distinctive marital biography.

Understanding the Mechanisms of Desistance at the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Neighborhood Context.

OBJECTIVES: This study tests theorized mechanisms of desistance, and whether the process of desistance is conditioned by social structural position. METHODS: We investigate how marriage promotes desistance from crime among urban African American males raised in the Woodlawn community, a disadvantaged neighborhood in Chicago. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we test the resiliency of the marriage effect by observing offending trajectories following marital dissolution; is the marriage effect conditional upon staying married, indicating situational effects? or does the effect persist when marriage is taken away, indicating enduring effects? Further, we test if the process of desistance is conditional upon contextual disadvantage. RESULTS: While initial findings show an increase in violent and property offending upon divorce, further analysis shows evidence that this effect differs by neighborhood structural context; the increase in offending upon divorce is apparent only for African American men who experience continued disadvantage across the life course. Those who moved to relatively more advantaged areas by adulthood show no increase in offending upon marital dissolution. CONCLUSIONS: How marriage matters for desistance is partially influenced by social structural position; context matters. These findings invigorate criminological research on the mechanisms driving the marriage effect and provide insight into the interactive nature of person and context.