After a divorce, the couple often experiences effects including decreased levels of happiness,[1] a change in economic status, and emotional problems.
[4] One broad-based study also shows that people have an easier time recovering after the death of a parent as opposed to a divorce.
[6] It is believed that this type of attitude and action occur due to the children feeling they are the reason why their parents split.
Recent authors have argued that a major cost to children comes long after they attempt to form stable marriages themselves.
Robert H. Coombs, Professor of Behavioral Sciences at UCLA, reviewed over 130 studies measuring how marital status affects personal well-being.
Children of divorced or separated parents also seek formal psychiatric care at higher rates, are more likely to die by suicide, acute infectious diseases, digestive illnesses, parasitic diseases, respiratory illnesses, and severe injuries, and have lower life expectancies in men.
Other issues include increased risk of cancer, strokes, heart problems, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis.
Having divorced parents can also cause an increased risk of arthritis for children later in life and lower levels of the hormone oxytocin in adulthood.
[14] A study by Wolfinger, N. H. (2011), titled "More Evidence for Trends in the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce", attempted to understand the validity of this socially held claim.
A parental divorce influences a child’s behavior in a negative manner, which leads to anger, frustration, and depression.
These findings suggest that a key predictor of early death is the amount of time people live as recipients of divorce.
This article (although stand-alone) may hold value as it expresses the physiological impacts of divorce on the individual, which resolve into diminished lifespans.