This synthesis focuses on recent research evidence concerning one of these potentialbenefits of marriage-the effects of marriage on health. In general, married people arehealthier than those who are not married across a wide array of health outcomes(Schoenborn 2004). The existence of an association between marriage and health does notnecessarily imply that marriage causes better outcomes, however. In particular, people whomarry may already be healthier than those who do not, and this may be the reason for thebetter health of married adults. An examination of the relevance of these patterns for publicpolicy must include careful consideration of whether the association between marital statusand various health measures indicates that getting and staying married actually improveshealth. To provide a broad understanding of the current research on the link between marriageand health, we have synthesized recent literature across several fields, including public health,the social sciences, and medical science. We focus on research published in peer-reviewedjournals and on studies using the most rigorous methods for determining whether the linkbetween marriage and health is a causal one. we focus on research conducted with U.S. populations and completed since 1990. (Author abstract, modified)