While one s own unemployment

While one\'s own unemployment is a shock that seems to influence health and health behaviors, a partner\'s unemployment may also be stressful or bring about a buy Clozapine N-oxide in resources (Mendolia, 2014, Westman, Elzion, & Horoutz, 2004), thus influencing one\'s own health and well-being. Researchers studying other aspects of family life have characterized unemployment as a household experience (see, e.g., Gough & Killewald, 2011, Lundberg, 1985, Maloney, 1987). As a part of a couple, an unemployed individual could be buffered from adverse health outcomes because of the potential for resource sharing and social support. For example, Oppenheimer\'s (1997) theory of risk pooling suggests that couples can pool risk in ways that single individuals cannot, and this risk pooling could help attenuate the resource loss and other negative effects of unemployment. Furthermore, in a couple or family context there is the potential for a built-in support system beyond any type of resource pooling. Jackson (1992) found that spousal support was an effective buffer against economic strain, which could occur with unemployment, and she found that the shared experience of this strain was likely a driver of this buffering effect. Thus, having financial and emotional support from a partner may help an unemployed individual to make healthier choices in the face of a crisis like unemployment. On the other hand, the potential for negative spillover of stress and anxiety between partners (Mendolia, 2014, Westman et al., 2004) could translate into negative outcomes for both unemployed individuals and their partners. Westman et al.\'s (2004) study of couples in Israel found that economic hardship resulting from unemployment was a significant predictor of anxiety for both spouses in the household and that there was significant crossover of anxiety from the unemployed individual to the spouse and vice versa. Mendolia (2014) detected similar trends in couples when the husband was unemployed; both members of the couple were more likely to experience poor mental health. Stress and negative mental health outcomes for unemployed individuals and their partners could lead to a variety of negative health behaviors, including smoking, alcohol abuse, and other risk taking behaviors (Falba, Teng, Sindelar, & Gallo, 2005, Harris & Edlund, 2005, McKee, Maciejewski, Falba, & Mazure, 2003). Margolis (2013) provides similar evidence of cross-partner health behavior changes for smoking in the context of a new chronic disease diagnosis. Such couple-level analyses are limited in the research despite the well-known association between marriage and health (Ross, Mirowsky, & Goldsteen, 1990, Waite & Gallagher, 2000). To that end, in their 2010 review of research on families and health, Carr and Springer (2010) call for more attention to both dyadic analyses of health (those focusing on both members of a couple) and a focus on specific outcomes, rather than broad measures of health and well-being. Gender may also play a role. Research suggests that while unemployment is detrimental to both men\'s and women\'s health (Brenner & Levi, 1987, Kessler et al., 1987), men may experience more negative outcomes because they may encounter stigma as a result of their failure to successfully enact the breadwinner role (Komarovsky, 1940, McFayden, 1995, Paul & Moser, 2009). Thus, the experience of unemployment for health in a household may differ depending on whether the male or female partner is the one experiencing the unemployment. Building from this, and Carr and Springer\'s (2010, p. 743) argument that researchers need to focus on the conditions under which, and for whom, family structure and context matter for health, in this study I seek to answer the following research questions: 1. Is one\'s own unemployment associated with changes in physical activity participation? 2. Is one\'s partner\'s unemployment associated with changes in one\'s own physical activity participation? 3. Do changes in physical activity behaviors associated with unemployment differ by gender? Drawing on a number of different theoretical perspectives and prior research I analyze longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to determine whether individuals change their physical activity behaviors when they or their partners experience involuntary unemployment. I examine whether these changes differ by gender, and I test robustness with supplementary and subgroup analyses.