Marital Status and Schizophrenia

The finding that married persons are more likely to be hospitalized schizophrenics is reviewed. Three interpretations of the finding are discussed: causation, selection, and differential utilization. A strategy to separate the three hypotheses is presented which uses data on rates of admission and duration of hospitalization and which concentrates on the widowed category. Data from the Maryland Psychiatric Case Register are used to test the hypotheses. Evidence of selection and differential utilization is found, but none in favor of the causation hypothesis. It is shown that selection operates less powerfully in rural areas.