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>The researchers used data from 7,694 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) who were aged 45-50 in 1996, with their health and wellbeing tracked via questionanaires roughly every three years up to 2016.

>They were regularly asked to indicate their level of satisfaction in their relationships including with partners, family, friends and colleagues.

>The participants were also monitored for the 11 conditions identified as National Priority Areas in Australia: diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, osteoporosis, arthritis, cancer, depression and anxiety.

>Fifty-eight per cent of the women who had no chronic conditions when the study started, went on to develop multiple chronic conditions over the 20-year period.

I would be very interested in further research on the correlation between social isolation and chronic health conditions. It seems like a chicken and egg dilemma presently.

Can a woman have a satisfying relationship?

Yes. It seems like that association likely works in both directions: women with chronic illness are also likely unable to dedicate much energy to relationships.

Unfortunately, perhaps a self reinforcing cycle.

Agreed; I was thinking chicken or egg.

It would be interesting to see how this compares with results for men, given the common belief that in opposite sex relationships, women tend to take on carer roles when their partners develop health problems, while when roles are reversed, men tend to leave the relationship.

Women are better than men at relationships. Men are experiencing a loneliness epidemic because of it.

Is this because women are just with eachother?

I don't think this is a common belief

Makes me wonder which came first? What if people or specifically women who have fewer chronic illnesses tend to have better relationships instead?

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Or women, specifically, are more likely to be abandoned by their partners when they get sick: Gender disparity in the rate of partner abandonment in patients with serious medical illness

I've heard many anecdotes supporting this, including those of healthcare professionals. I do realise that anecdotes don't constitute statistical proof; nevertheless the idea that this gender discrepancy exists is very much "out there".

Eh, it's not a competition.

Men and women are socialised to play different roles in relationships, and this has an effect on how they deal with difficult situations within their Relationship. It's not a competition; it's an observation.

it says that divorce rate in the group of seriously ill doesn't differ from divorce rate in general population.

Also, it doesn't says explicitly it's a man who files for divorce. It's an assumption that in all cases sick spouse is abandoned by the healthy spouse

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There have been studies done on it, according to a study done by Washington University "A man is six times as likely to leave his wife when she becomes seriously ill as a woman is to abandon her husband"

here's a link to the study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19645027/

I think that’s everyone, not just women…

Happiness IS healing…for everyone.

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You can tell any story using statistics

On the contrary you can only tell the stories the statistics support, that's how statistics work.

Any story you like. You can demonstrate for example that the rise in global temperatures have coincided with a rise in divorces.

The stories you choose to believe are those which best suit your existing worldview

That could well be true, poor environmental health may cause more illness and economic issues. However this is the point of the scientific method, it's intention is to separate false correlations from actual evidence supporting the hypothesis.

In this particular study it is quite straightforward though, the only factor being scrutinised is gender and the only context is divorce after a serious medical diagnosis. a rate of 6 times higher is quite an outstanding amount, a much higher amount than the normal divorce rate initiated by men. In normal circumstances women initiate 70% of divorces, so if gender was unrelated in the particular circumstance of divorce due to medical issues (with a similar gendered group sample size as in this study) you would assume that women would still initiate more divorces. However that is not the case, in fact it swings quite far on the side of men initiating more divorce in that context.

That is the observation in its whole, the study does not delve into the reasoning behind it. Factors such as financial responsibility could play a part especially in areas without universal health care but statistics don't care much for reasoning. This was not a study on why it is the case just if it is the case and it found that it was. A female patients likelihood of being divorced by her partner shortly after diagnosis was 20.8% vs a male patient at 2.9%, this is not a small difference and the link to gender is clear. Just like accepting evidence to fit your narrative can be unwise, ignoring evidence to fit yours isn't great either.

Correlation ≠ causation

This study is looking at the number of self-reported satisfying relationships and comparing it with how many have a chronic illness.

>Correlation ≠ causation

I am aware that was the point of me bringing up the scientific method as a way of distinguishing the two.

We were not talking about this study, we were talking about the validity of the study that supports the theory that men are more likely to leave women with serious illnesses, than women are to leave men with serious illnesses. Which you were dismissive of.

My only point was to provide evidence for it being a common belief, as I and many other people are aware of this research. I am not involved in the original conversation of a potential study from the perspective of men concerning the health benifits of being in happy relationships. I would assume they would also be healthier as less stress is better regardless of gender, but in the world of science you don't know unless you do various studies to find out.

People tend to ignore those with chronic illnesses.

Yes, because they aren't forever stressed outand experiencing a lifetime of chronic inflammation throughout their whole bodies.

Exactly this. As someone who suffers from a chronic illness I can tell you absolutely the only reason I'm not in a relationship is because of my health problems. I would certainly have a much higher chance of being in a satisfying one if I had the physical strength to just be in one in the first place.

For example I do not believe it - it is therefore not a common belief, merely a popular one.

Statistics give an indication of what could be, never reveal what is.

What is the validity of having a study comparing men with women? Does it achieve a goal of enlightening the individual of their own circumstances?

The more you ask questions of it (using the scientific method) the more it falls apart.

You are in denial of data, asking morality questions to numbers is like asking a brick wall to describe the colour green. Your feelings do not change the numbers, the numbers do not care if you would rather not think about the increased likelihood of men leaving their seriously ill partners.

If you do not agree with the study then disprove it with your own, that is how it is done. Until then I'm afraid any philosophical questions or your own personal beliefs do nothing to change the statistics.

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Or people who have satisfying relationships are generally more well adjusted and well off mentally and physically, ultimately leading to a more healthy lifestyle with less stress.

Even back when I had energy, it's amazing how many people were scared off just by the chronic illness label. Which is why I made a point to be upfront about it, ensuring that we both saved ourselves some time.

Oncologists warn married women that husbands have a high rate of leaving their sick wives.

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Conclusion: my wife secretly hates me

Or women with fewer chronic illnesses tend to have more satisfying relationships.

Then why do I have fibromyalgia