essay on effects of divorce pdf

• DOI: 10.7176/jcsd/46-02
• Corpus ID: 182074846

The Effect of Divorce on Families’ Life

• Mulugeta Deribe Damota
• Published in Journal of Culture, Society… 1 March 2019

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When Love Hurts – Mental and Physical Health Among Recently Divorced Danes

Associated data.

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

The last decades of research have consistently found strong associations between divorce and adverse health outcomes among adults. However, limitations of a majority of this research include (a) lack of “real-time” research, i.e., research employing data collected very shortly after juridical divorce where little or no separation periods have been effectuated, (b) research employing thoroughly validated and population-normed measures against which study results can be compared, and (c) research including a comprehensive array of previously researched sociodemographic- and divorce-related variables. The current cross-sectional study, including 1,856 recently divorced Danes, was designed to bridge these important gaps in the literature. Mental and physical health were measured using the Short Form 36 (SF-36)-2. Analyses included correlational analyses, t- test comparisons, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The study found that the health-related quality of life of Danish divorcees was significantly worse than the comparative background population immediately following divorce. Across gender, higher levels of divorce conflict were found to predict worse mental health, and worse physical health for women, even when controlling for other socio-demographic variables and divorce characteristics. Among men, lower age and higher income predicted better physical health, while more children, more previous divorces, participant divorce initiation, new partner status, and lower levels of divorce conflict predicted better mental health. Among women, higher income, fewer previous divorces, new partner status, and lower levels of divorce conflict predicted better physical health while higher income, participant divorce initiation, new partner status, and lower levels of divorce conflict predicted better mental health. The findings underscore the relevance of providing assistance to divorcees who experience higher levels of divorce conflict immediately following divorce, in seeking to reduce potential long-term negative health effects of divorce.

Introduction

The last 20 years of research have consistently found strong associations between divorce and adverse health outcomes among adults. Generally, divorcees report poorer physical and mental health and more symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and social isolation than the general population ( Amato, 2000 , 2010 ; Kessing et al., 2003 ; Hewitt and Turrell, 2011 ; Hewitt et al., 2012 ; Hald et al., 2020b ). Furthermore, divorce is associated with more frequent hospitalization ( Nielsen et al., 2014 ), substance use ( Waite et al., 2009 ), higher suicide rates ( Kposowa, 2000 ), lower levels of psychological well-being ( Bracke et al., 2010 ; Colman et al., 2012 ), and greater overall mortality risk ( Kposowa, 2000 ; Sbarra and Nietert, 2009 ). However, four limitations relate to a significant part of this research.

First, often studies include only one or two health-related outcomes per study (e.g., stress and/or depression) (e.g., Lindström, 2009 ; Hewitt et al., 2012 ; Knöpfli et al., 2016 ). While this is important in mapping out specific effects of divorce, it limits the ability to gain insight into more comprehensive physical and mental health profiles among divorce populations. These could be important for more accurate and comprehensive assessments and profiling of the effects of divorce on health. Second, most countries in the world require separation periods before juridical divorce is granted. This means that divorce studies able to employ “real-time” research are scarce and there has been a call for such studies (e.g., Thuen, 2001 ; Cipric et al., 2020 ). The concept of “real-time” research usually refers to the collection of data among divorcees with little or no separation periods before formal juridical divorce ( Hald et al., 2020a ). When studying health effects of divorce, this may be especially important since many health outcomes related to divorce may be sensitive to a “time heals effect,” whereby negative effects of divorce naturally decline over time ( Amato, 2010 ; Sander et al., 2020 ). Therefore, current research on adverse health effects of divorce may, in fact, underestimate negative health effects of divorce as data have often been collected after a divorce that was preceded by significant periods of separation and thus is likely to be subject to the “time heals effect” ( Sander et al., 2020 ). Third, studies employing thoroughly validated and population-normed measures are few. Validated measures are needed for accurate assessment of the health outcomes studied. However, these assessments may benefit from contextualization by having background population norms against which the results can be directly compared. This allows for more direct insights into the degree to which divorcees may differ from background population norms and thus the relative impact of the divorce on health. Fourth, studies are needed that include a more comprehensive array of previously researched sociodemographic- and divorce-related predictor or explanatory variables of mental and physical health. This would allow for a more thorough assessment of the individual and combined effect of these variables on mental and physical health. The current study was designed to bridge these four important gaps in health research related to divorce.

Divorce theory and divorce research suggest that there are sociodemographic variables and divorce-related characteristics that may moderate the effects of divorce on mental and physical health. Theoretically, Amato’s Divorce-Stress-Readjustment perspective (DSR; Amato, 2000 ) suggests that adverse effects of divorce depend on a number of risk and protective factors experienced during and following the divorce process. Examples of risk factors include lower standards of living, loss of benefits associated with marriage, and conflict with the former partner, whereas examples of protective factors include having a new romantic partner, adequate income, and holding positive views about the divorce. According to the DSR, it is the interplay between risk and protective factors that may be important in determining the effects of divorce on mental and physical health ( Amato, 2010 ).

From an empirical perspective, studies suggest that lower socioeconomic status, being unemployed, lower levels of education, and lower family income ( Barrett, 2000 ; Simon, 2002 ; Symoens et al., 2013b ) are associated with lower mental and physical health following divorce. In addition, younger age has been found to be associated with lower mental health following divorce ( Bulloch et al., 2017 ). In relation to divorce characteristics, mutual divorce agreement initiation ( Weiss, 1976 ; Gray and Silver, 1990 ; Wang and Amato, 2000 ; Sweeney and Horwitz, 2001 ; Sakraida, 2008 ; Cohen and Finzi-Dottan, 2012 ; Symoens et al., 2013a ), having a new partner ( Mastekaasa, 1994 ; Amato, 2000 ; Øygard, 2004 ; Blekesaune, 2008 ; Kulik and Heine-Cohen, 2011 ; Symoens et al., 2013b ; Symoens et al., 2014 ) and lower levels of divorce-related conflict ( Symoens et al., 2014 ; Petren et al., 2017 ) have been found to be associated with better mental and physical health. Both empirically and from an applied point of view, divorce conflict has been found to adversely affect or accelerate declines in mental health among divorcees. While the cross-sectional nature of the current study does not allow for investigation of the impact of divorce conflict on mental health over time, it does allow for an independent assessment of the explanatory value of divorce conflict on mental health, accounting for basic sociodemographic variables and other divorce-related characteristics. Compared with previous research, this allows for a more thorough and “independent” investigation of divorce conflict on mental health immediately following divorce.

The current study took place in Denmark, providing a unique perspective on divorce and divorce-related processes. First, in Denmark, there is high societal acceptance of divorce ( Uggla and Andersson, 2018 ), and in general, divorce is not associated with societal stigma, as it is in many other parts of the world. Second, Denmark is a country with high levels of equality, both in terms of gender equality ( European Institute for Gender Equality, 2018 ) and income equality ( OECD, 2018 ). As such, Denmark offers a unique context in which to study whether sociodemographic and divorce-related factors predict post-divorce mental and physical health.

Based on the above, the current study sought to investigate mental and physical health among recently divorced Danes using a well-known, comprehensive, and population-normed mental and physical health measure. Further, the study sought to examine the explanatory value of a comprehensive array of previously identified sociodemographic variables and divorce-related characteristics on overall mental and physical health. Finally, the study sought to compare overall mental and physical health to relevant population norms. Accordingly, the following two research questions and one study hypothesis guided the study investigation:

• RQ1: What is the mental and physical health among recently divorced individuals and how does it compare to population norms?
• RQ2: What is the explanatory value of sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, number of children, income, education) and divorce-related characteristics (i.e., marriage duration, number of previous divorces, divorce initiator status, new partner status, and divorce conflict) on overall mental and physical health among recently divorced individuals?
• H1: Divorce conflict will significantly add to the explanatory value of mental health after accounting for basic sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, number of children, income, education) and divorce-related characteristics (i.e., marriage duration, number of previous divorces, divorce initiator status, and new partner status).

Materials and Methods

Participants.

The study sample comprised 1,856 participants of which 66% were women. The average age of women was 44.65 years ( SD = 8.34), while for men, it was 46.66 years ( SD = 9.31). The majority of participants had at least a medium educational level and earned at least the national average salary (see Table 1 ). The majority of the sample (88.3%) were parents, with an average of 1.88 ( SD = 0.99) children per participant. The average marriage duration for men was 12.22 years ( SD = 8.11) and for women 13.0 ( SD = 7.98), and for approximately 88% of the sample, this was their first divorce. A majority of women (52%) reported to have initiated the divorce, with 29% of men reporting to be divorce initiators. The majority of both male and female participants did not have new partners following their divorce (65% men, 64% women). The mean legal divorce duration before survey completion was 4.47 days ( SD = 6.97) for men and 5.23 ( SD = 7.66) days for women. Of note, there were some gender differences in sociodemographic and divorce-related characteristics. Specifically, compared to men, women were younger, had been married slightly longer, were more highly educated, earned less than men, had initiated the divorce more often, and had a different partner status than men [age ( t (1854) = 4.74, p < 0.001); duration of marriage ( t (1854) = −1.972, p = 0.049); education (χ 2 = 32.61, p < 0.001); income (χ 2 = 107.41, p < 0.001); initiator status (χ 2 = 90.50, p < 0.001); new partner (χ 2 = 14.82, p = 0.002)].

Participant demographics ( N = 1,856).

Data on all people who divorced in Denmark during the study period were obtained from Statistics Denmark and compared to the study sample. The study sample was found to be representative in terms of age, income, and marriage duration ( p > 0.05). There were statistically significant differences between participants and the comparison population in terms of gender (more women participated: χ 2 = 208.45, p < 0.001), educational attainment (study participants were more highly educated: χ 2 = 1135.23, p < 0.001), and the number of previous divorces [participants had on average fewer previous divorces than the average Danish divorcee: t (1855) = −8.47, p < 0.001].

During the study period (January 2016 to January 2018), those seeking divorce in Denmark initiated formal legal divorce and separation procedures by submitting an application to the Danish State Administration (DSA). Legal divorce was granted immediately when there was a mutual agreement to the marital dissolution. However, if there was disagreement regarding the divorce itself or its terms, a 6-month separation period was instituted, after which divorce was granted even in the absence of mutual agreement. The DSA reports that approximately 30% of couples underwent the 6-month separation period. The average processing time required by the DSA to issue divorce decrees was 2–3 weeks.

Invitations to the present study were sent by the DSA along with the divorce decree. The invitation letter described the 12-month Randomized Controlled Trial intervention study entitled “Cooperation after Divorce” that sought to investigate the effects of a digital intervention platform called “Cooperation after Divorce (CAD)” on divorcees’ mental and physical health. As the DSA sent out invitations, we were unable to send re-invitations to those who did not respond to the initial invitation sent out by the DSA. Those who completed the baseline survey received invitations from the intervention platform to complete surveys at 3, 6, and 12 months; for each of these time points, two reminder e-mails were sent out, one after 3 days and one after 14 days, if no response had been provided.

Cooperation after Divorce covers three main areas: (1) the divorce, (2) children, and (3) cooperation following divorce, employing 17 learning modules delivered through an online platform. This paper reports only the baseline results of the study, therefore, please also see Hald et al. (2020a) for a more thorough description of the CAD platform. The letter also described the procedure for participation, which consisted of clicking on a web-link in the invitation letter, provide informed consent, and respond to the baseline questionnaire anonymously. The research received approval from the Danish Data Protection Agency and was exempt from further ethical evaluations following the rules and regulations as set forth by the Scientific Ethical Committees of Denmark.

The exact response rate is not possible to report because the DSA could not provide the precise number of study invitations sent during the study period. There were 32,487 legal divorces in Denmark during the RCT enrollment period; however, it is unknown whether all individuals who divorced received an invitation along with their divorce decree. In total, 1,882 people began the study and due to impossible or invalid responses, 26 were excluded (i.e., those who did not report gender, reported to be married less than 1 day, or to have married the same year as they were born). Thus, 1,856 participants were included in the final analytical study sample.

Sociodemographic Variables

(a) Age at divorce was measured in years and months. (b) Sexual identity was determined by answering: “Are you a man or a woman?” with the response options: 1 = “Man” 2 = “Woman.” (c) Education level was assessed by answering: “What is the highest education you have completed?” with the following response options: 1 = “low level of education” (e.g., primary school, high school, business high school, vocational education), 2 = “medium level of education” (e.g., medium-length tertiary education, bachelor’s degree), and 3 = “high level of education” (e.g., master’s degree or higher). (d) Income was measured with the question “What is your monthly income before tax?” in Danish Crowns (1 USD = 6.35 DKK). The response options were: 1 = “Below 10,000DKK,” 2 = “10–20,000DKK,” 3 = “20–30,000DKK,” 4 = “30–40,000DKK,” 5 = “40–50,000DKK,” 6 = “50–60,000DKK,” 7 = “60–70,000DKK,” 8 = “70–80,000DKK,” 9 = “More than 80,000DKK.” These categories were reduced for descriptive purposes for Table 1 so that 1–3 = “Below average,” 2–4 = “Average,” 5+= “Above average”; however, in all analyses the original scale was used. (e) The number of children was obtained by asking how many children participants had from 0 to 8.

Divorce-Related Variables

(a) Marriage duration was calculated in years and months from marriage date to divorce date; (b) legal divorce duration was calculated in days from the legal divorce date to survey response date; (c) number of divorces was obtained by asking, “How many time have you divorced?” with response options including 1 = “One time,” 2 = “Two times,” 3 = “Three times,” and 4 = “More than three times”; (e) divorce initiator status was ascertained with the question “Who initiated your divorce” and 1 = “Me,” 2 = “Mostly me,” 3 = “We mutually agreed,” 4 = “Mostly my former spouse,” 5 = “My former spouse,” 6 “Not sure.” Initiator status responses were reduced so that 1–2 = “Me,” 3 = “We mutually agreed,” 4–5 = “My former spouse,” and 6 = “System missing” [only seven participants (0.4%) responded “not sure”]; (f) New partner status was obtained with the question “Do you or your ex have a new partner?” with the following response options: 1 = “Yes, we both have a new partner,” 2 = “No, none of us have a new partner,” 3 = “I have a new partner, but not my ex,” 4 = “My ex has a new partner, but not me”; (g) Divorce conflict was assessed employing the six-item self-report Divorce Conflict Scale (DCS). The DCS measures six dimensions of divorce-related conflict: communication, co-parenting, global assessment of former spouse, negative and pervasive negative exchanges and hostile, insecure emotional environment, and self-perceived conflict ( Hald et al., 2020d ). The internal consistency of the DCS scale was high (α = 0.88).

Physical and Mental Health

The second version of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Assessment was used for the core outcomes of this study. The SF-36 is a 36-item self-report measure that is a widely used instrument to assess health-related quality of life over the previous 4 weeks among general populations and diverse patient groups ( Maruish, 2011 ). The instrument includes the following eight domains which are measured using 35 items: physical functioning, role physical (role participation with physical health problems), bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional (role participation with emotional health problems), and mental health. The final item is not included in the domains subscales and addresses self-evaluation health transition. The responses are given with a Likert scale or a yes/no format. Domain scores are reported in 0–100 transformed scores and t -scores that are calculated from the raw scores and higher scores indicate better health status (see Maruish, 2011 for more information). The physical health and mental health summary variables are calculated using all eight health domains based on their relative factor analytical weights. Many language versions of the SF-36 exist and the instrument has been determined to be a valid and reliable instrument for a wide range of populations ( Bjorner et al., 1998 ; Maruish, 2011 ). In this study, all of the eight health scales demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.85–0.93).

Data Analyses

Missing data were less than 5% for all variables in the present paper, which is below the proportion of missingness that may bias results ( Schafer, 1999 ; Bennett, 2001 ; Dong and Peng, 2013 ). Thus, the data were omitted “listwise” in analyses. For the legal divorce duration variable, outliers were changed to missing values using the moderately conservative ± 2.5 times the median absolute deviation (MAD) threshold, as recommended by Leys et al. (2013) . To assess gender differences, sociodemographic and divorce-related characteristics were compared using two-sample t -tests and chi-square tests.

Prior to any other data analyses, a rake weight was constructed and applied to the data. The rake weight was based on gender, education, and previous number of divorces and adjusted for sample representativeness (see section “Participants”). When constructing rake weights, a set of variables for which the distribution is known are chosen, and the statistical program creates weights for each case until the sample distribution aligns with the population for those variables. The resultant weight was applied to the data. Thus, all following data analyses (correlations, comparisons to norms, cut-off score comparison, and hierarchical regressions) reflect results with the weight applied.

One-sample t -tests were employed to compare our sample with the available Danish normative data from the Danish SF-36 user’s manual, which comprise a random population sample of 4,080 Danish adults (52% women) from the SF-36 Health Assessment Danish Manual study (for more information regarding this normative population sample, see also Bjorner et al., 1998 ). For comparisons, the SF-36 0–100 transformed scale scores were used.

Pearson correlation analyses were used for assessing bivariate correlations between variables. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to assess the independent contribution to the explanation of the variance SF-36 physical and mental health summary t -scores. In a first step, age, number of children, income, and education were entered as predictors; in a second step, marriage duration, number of previous divorces, divorce initiator status, and new partner status were entered as predictors. DCS scores were entered as a predictor in the third step. This approach allows for an assessment of the unique contributions of sets of variables (i.e., demographics and divorce-related variables), and specifically, allows for an assessment of the unique contribution of divorce conflict, beyond the contribution of demographics and divorce-related factors.

When compared with Danish normative data, male participants reported lower role physical scores [ t (878) = −9.38, p < 0.001, d = 0.32], worse general health [ t (878) = −5.66, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.19], lower vitality [ t (875) = −31.88, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.08], decreased social functioning [ t (878) = −23.51, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.79], lower role emotional scores [ t (878) = −25.63, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.87], and worse mental health [ t (875) = −40.79, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.38], but better physical functioning [ t (879) = 6.66, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.23] and lower levels of bodily pain [ t (878) = 2.34, p = 0.020, Cohen’s d = 0.08], than the Danish normative male population.

Statistically significant differences were found on the SF-36 domains for women. Compared with the Danish normative female population, female participants reported lower role physical scores [ t (880) = −3.00, p = 0.003, d = 0.10], worse general health [ t (883) = −7.25, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.24], lower vitality [ t (878) = −33.00, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.11], lower social functioning scores [ t (880) = −23.19, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.78], decreased role emotional capacity [ t (880) = −25.86, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.87], and worse mental health [ t (878) = −38.31, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.29], but better physical functioning [ t (883) = 9.94, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.33] and lower levels of bodily pain [ t (880) = 2.92, p = 0.004, Cohen’s d = 0.10] (see Figures 1 , ​ ,2 2 ).

SF-36 physical health domain means compared to normative data.

SF-36 mental health domain means compared to normative data.

Comparison cut-off scores were created such that those with t -scores below 44 were categorized as poor functioning, those with t -scores between 44 and 56 (i.e., average) were categorized as normal functioning, and those with t -scores above 56 (i.e., above) were categorized as superior functioning. The comparisons revealed that for the intervention group, 8.3% fell below the cut-score on physical health (normal = 23.8% and superior = 68%) and 73.6% fell below the cut-score on mental health (normal = 19.9% and superior = 6.6%). Similarly, for the control group, 8.0% fell below the cut-score on physical health (normal = 22.5% and superior = 69.5%) and 72.6% fell below the cut-score on mental health (normal = 23.8% and superior = 3.6%).

Among men, bivariate correlation analyses demonstrated that lower age, higher income, higher education, shorter duration marriages, fewer previous divorces, and lower mental health scores were significantly associated with better physical health ( p < 0.05). Among women, lower age, higher income, higher educational level, fewer previous divorces, new partner status, lower divorce conflict, and lower mental health scores were significantly associated with better physical health ( p < 0.05). Among men, higher age, longer marriage duration, more previous divorces, initiator and new partner status, and lower divorce conflict scores were significantly associated with better mental health, while for women higher income, fewer previous divorces, initiator status, and lower divorce conflict scores were significantly associated with better mental health ( p < 0.05; see also Table 2 ).

Correlations among sociodemographic variables, divorce conflict scale scores, physical and mental health summary scores ( N = 1856, men n = 617, women n = 1239).

Force enter hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to assess whether socio-demographic and divorce characteristics predicted mental and physical health and whether divorce conflict added to the explanatory value of mental health after controlling for sociodemographic variables and divorce characteristics. The first step of the analyses included the sociodemographic variables of age, number of children, income, and education, and the second step included the divorce-related variables of marriage duration, number of previous divorces, divorce initiator status, and new partner status, while the third and final step included divorce conflict. The variables (Step 3) explained 14.6% of the variance of the physical health summary scores for men [ F (12,875) = 12.33, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.146] and 8.8% for women [ F (12,878) = 6.96, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.088]. Among men, lower age and higher income significantly added to the prediction of better physical health ( p < 0.05). Among women, higher income, fewer previous divorces, new partner status, and lower divorce conflict added to the prediction of better physical health ( p < 0.05) (see also Table 3 ).

Multiple regression analyses predicting SF-36 physical health summary t -scores.

For mental health, sociodemographic and divorce-related variables, as well as divorce conflict (Step 3) accounted for 19.3% of the explained variance among men [ F (12,875) = 17.15, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.193] and 9.9% among women [ F (12,878) = 7.89, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.099]. Factors that significantly added to the prediction of better mental health for men were more children, more previous divorces, participant divorce initiation, new partner status, and lower divorce conflict, while for women, higher income, participant divorce initiation, new partner status, and lower divorce conflict significantly added to the prediction of better mental health.

Regarding the study hypothesis, among both men and women, divorce conflict was found to significantly add to the explanation of mental health after controlling for basic sociodemographic variables and divorce characteristics (see also Table 4 ).

Multiple regression analyses predicting SF-36 mental health summary t -scores.

Pertaining to research question one, across gender, the study found that the mental health of Danish divorcees was significantly different from and worse than the Danish background population immediately following divorce. Further, across all mental health indicators, the magnitudes of these differences were large [i.e., Cohen’s ( d ) = 0.78–1.38]. The results for physical health were more equivocal. While both male and female divorcees reported better physical functioning in everyday life than the Danish background population, both genders also reported worse general health than the background population immediately following divorce.

The results for mental health corroborate existing research in the field and, notably, the effect sizes here were large, which may mainly reflect the timing of the collection of baseline data. With the unique opportunity to collect data very close to the juridical divorce (on average less than five days from juridical divorce) and the fact that the majority of the sample divorced without any prior separation period, data may have been less subject to a “time heals effect” ( Hald et al., 2020a ). Following Amato (2000) DSR, this means that time has not yet had a chance to mitigate the adverse effects of the divorce. Further, although caution needs to be taken regarding the generalizability of the sample, due to the non-probability sampling process, the results offer some of the first insights into how adverse the impacts of divorce on mental health may be immediately following divorce, using a range of common mental health indicators ( Sander et al., 2020 ).

The equivocal findings concerning physical health among divorcees immediately following divorce, we speculate, mainly have to do with (a) the study sample, (b) the content of questions of the outcome measure, and (c) the timing of measurements. Accordingly, the study sample comprised relatively younger individuals as compared to the background population sample used for comparisons. The majority of the items from the physical health scale include responses to tasks most non-elderly individuals would easily be able to accomplish, but which may prove increasingly difficult with age (e.g., walking one block, dressing and bathing, or lifting or carrying groceries), and this may account for the better physical health among our study sample as compared to the background population. Further, as first suggested by Sander et al. (2020) , when it comes to physical health, a “time hurts” effect may also be at play, whereby physical health is more adversely affected over the course of time following divorce than immediately after the divorce. A causal mechanism may be that reduced mental health increasingly adversely affects physical health over time ( Sander et al., 2020 ). We encourage future studies to further investigate this.

From an applied point of view, across diverse samples and patient groups, better health-related quality of life as measured by the SF-36 has been found to be associated with lower risk of morbidity, mortality, cancer as well as the recurrence of cancer, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (e.g., Lacson et al., 2010 ; Saquib et al., 2011 ; Folker et al., 2019 ). Further, multiple studies have found that worse health-related quality of life as measured by the SF-36 instrument is predictive of higher occurrence of work absence due to sickness, hospitalizations, and higher health care costs among both general populations and across multiple subpopulations (e.g., Lacson et al., 2010 ; Laaksonen et al., 2011 ; Pymont and Butterworth, 2015 ). In conjunction with the study results, especially for mental health, this means that there is sound human and financial reasoning in developing interventions that may help divorcees cope with adverse (mental) health effects of their divorce and, that among many divorcees, the need for help may be especially pronounced immediate following their divorce.

Pertaining to research question 2 and the study hypothesis, it was found that for men, lower age and higher income added to the prediction of better physical health. Among women, higher income, fewer previous divorces, new partner status, and lower levels of divorce conflict added to the prediction of better physical health. For mental health, among men, it was found that more children, more previous divorces, participant divorce initiation, new partner status, and lower levels of divorce conflict added to the prediction of better mental health, while for women, higher income, participant divorce initiation, new partner status, and lower levels of divorce conflict were found to add to better mental health. Moreover, our study hypothesis that divorce conflict would add to the overall prediction of mental health, even when other sociodemographic variables and divorce characteristics were controlled for, was supported. Of note, lower divorce conflict also predicted better physical health for women.

The current study indicates that, already at the time of or close to juridical divorce, higher degrees of divorce conflict are associated with worse mental health, even after accounting for other sociodemographic variables and divorce-related factors. This may not be surprising, given that higher degrees of divorce conflict are likely to negatively interfere with or complicate important decisions and life choices around the time of juridical divorce, like division of property, co-parenting, and child custody. This study finding accentuates the need to focus on divorce conflict levels already at divorce onset ( Hald et al., 2020d ).

Amato’s DSR theory stipulates that the adverse effects of divorce depend on the interplay between risk and protective factors ( Amato, 2010 ). These factors include many of those found in this study to significantly predict both mental and physical health, including income (DSR = economic security, standards of living), new partner status (DSR = having a new partner), and levels of divorce conflict (DSR = conflict with the former partner). Accordingly, the results of this study may be seen as support for Amato’s DSR theory, in that DSR theory views divorce “not as a discrete event, but as a process that unfolds over months and even years” ( Amato, 2010 , p. 10). Moreover, it follows that mental and physical health may already be adversely affected prior to the juridical divorce as a consequence of a prolonged stressful and/or unsatisfactory relationship ( Hald et al., 2020c ). Therefore, the measurements of mental and physical health employed in this study, done immediately after juridical divorce with little or no prior separation period, may “capture” the mental and physical health consequences of this “…process that unfolds over months and even years” ( Amato, 2010 , p. 10).

Notably, even in an egalitarian society such as the Danish one, with a large public sector, a well-developed welfare system, and fewer differences between rich and poor as compared to most other Western countries, higher income still significantly predicted mental well-being among women and physical well-being among both men and women. In accordance with DSR theory, this suggests that income may be a key protective factor against negative divorce-related health impacts ( Leopold, 2018 ), even in highly egalitarian societies. Even more so, income may be more important than level of education, a variable previously found to be related to post-divorce psychological and physical health outcomes ( Cohen and Finzi-Dottan, 2012 ; Perrig-Chiello et al., 2015 ), but which was not found to significantly predict mental or physical well-being in this study.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to include a large sample of very recently divorced individuals, employ standardized and validated mental and physical health measures consisting of multiple health-related indicators with available background population data for direct comparisons, and a multitude of sociodemographical and divorce-related variables previously shown to be associated with health-related outcomes. However, when evaluating the results, the following study limitations should be taken into consideration. The study used a non-probability sample of divorcees and employed self-report measures, which may limit the generalizability of findings. Specifically, the study sample may have consisted of individuals with more conflicts and more mental and physical problems than those who did not participate in the study, as these individuals may have believed that the intervention platform would be particularly helpful to them. Conversely, it may also be that people with more conflicts and more mental and physical problems may have decided not to participate because it may have felt threatening to their sense of self ( Howell and Shepperd, 2012 ; DiBello et al., 2015 ), and thus, are underrepresented in the current study. Additionally, we were unable to determine if both partners in a prior marriage participated in the study, which may affect the assumption of independence of data in the analyses. Further, due to the cross-sectional nature of our data, the results preclude causal inferences. Lastly, while the Danish context is interesting for several reasons, including the minimal societal stigma surrounding divorce and the presence of greater gender and income equality, there is also great acceptance of non-marital cohabitation, such that many couples choose to not get legally married. As the study targeted formerly legally married individuals, individuals who cohabitate were not recruited, and thus, it is unclear whether the study results may generalize to this group of individuals. However, we expect that the relationship dissolution process is similar for married and cohabitating individuals, to the extent that there can be children involved and shared assets (e.g., house). Therefore, we do not have reason to expect that non-married individuals differ from married individuals; however, future research should seek to examine this point.

In conclusion, the study found that the health-related quality of life of Danish divorcees immediately following divorce was significantly different from and worse than the comparative Danish background population. Further, higher levels of divorce conflict predicted worse mental health even after controlling for other sociodemographic variables and divorce characteristics often targeted in research on the interplay between divorce and health. The findings underscore the relevance of providing divorce interventions for divorcees as early as possible following their divorce to improve health-related quality of life.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency and the Regional Scientific Ethical Committee of Copenhagen, Denmark. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

This original research report is part of the doctoral thesis for SS. SS and GH were responsible for the design of the intervention and the study protocol and also responsible for the manuscript writing. JS was responsible for data analysis. CØ and AC were responsible for feedback and editing. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

For due diligence, we would like to declare that the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where the authors work, owns the digital intervention platform “Cooperation after Divorce (CAD)” while two of the co-authors (GH and SS) hold the commercial license and intellectual property rights to the platform through the Company “CAD” (Samarbejde Efter Skilsmisse ApS). The reviewer LL declared a shared affiliation, with no collaboration, with the author to the handling editor at the time of the review.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Egmont Foundation for support with the development of the digital platform “Cooperation After Divorce,” the Danish State Administration for help during the data collection process, and the Carlsberg Foundation for their funding of the research project “When Marriage Fails.”

Funding. This work was financially supported by “The Carlsberg Foundation Distinguished Associate Professor Fellowship” (the last author) under Grant No. CF16-0094.

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Effects of Divorce on Children Essay

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Negative Effects of Divorce on Children: Essay Introduction

The effect of divorce on child: essay body, conclusion about divorce, reference list.

Want to know about the negative effects of divorce on children? Essay sample below is what you need! Learn here about the causes and bad consequences of divorce on children’s future family life. Whether you need ideas, inspiration, or an example of a conclusion for divorce essay, you will find it here.

Divorce is the act of dissolving or terminating a marriage between two people before the death of one partner thus rendering the marriage null and void. Divorce frees one of legal responsibilities and duties that he/she was previously bound to by the union of marriage. It also frees one of marriage with another person. Divorce in the society happens for different reasons depending on the individual cases.

Different authorities that have a legal authority to allow the dissolution of the marriage (Isle, 2012, Para. 4) carry out the process. These authorities might be religious, government arms, or traditional settings depending on the laws of marriage to which the partners subscribed. As the paper reveals, regardless of the reason behind any divorce case, the children of the divorced parents feel a remarkable effect.

The effects that children have after a divorce may be psychological, social, and or emotional because each divorce case tends to be unique in its own way though divorces can be grouped into different broad categories: at fault divorce, no fault divorce, summary divorce, uncontested divorce, collaborative divorce, and mediated divorce.

Specific reasons that might come under the above broad groups may include unfaithfulness in marriage, lack of commitment in marriage by one or both partners, irreconcilable differences, abusive marriage, distance, and a partner developing interest in getting married to a different person (Amato, 2003, p. 605).

At the end of the day, divorce has its own effects towards the divorcing couples and the people around them especially their families and children.

When a divorce happens to a couple who have children, it stops being an issue concerning two people only. It becomes an issue concerning them and their children because, in society, children’s interest and wellbeing are paramount and hence a responsibility of any person with a legal age.

When a divorce happens between a married couple with children, the interest of the children have to be secured as provided for by the law so that they do not end up suffering as a consequence of the divorce.

Though the wellbeing of children seem secured, in case of a divorce, children tend to be affected in different ways both negatively and positively because it always has psychological effects on them. The extent of the impact of a break up on a kid will at times relate with the age of the kids at the time of the separation.

For instance, though a toddler may not comprehend the issues going on then, they tend to sense it within their parents, “as their parents’ energy levels and mood tend to shift” (Douglas, 2005, p.49). This leads to the infants’ reaction in different ways based on their instincts that may be observed. There might be a change in the sleeping patterns of the baby as well as their eating habits.

The baby might become so fussy with lots of mood swings, which were unusual to the baby before. Regression can also be viewed in the baby with the baby unlearning the skills it had acquired before. Either the baby may become slow in gaining weight, cutting the gained weight, or stagnating. The baby may also be slow in development (Douglas, 2005, p.50).

For the best welfare of the child, the parents should try as much as possible to maintain the previous routine between them and the child so as not to upset the balance in the child’s life.

Divorce happening to parents with pre-school children tends to affect the children in such a way that they will always feel it as if it their mistake led to their parents’ moving apart. This leads to their feeling insecure by always wanting to be around an adult and not wanting to be left alone.

They have the fear that they might be abandoned. They develop a friendly nature. They also tend to become angered by small things, which can be attributed to mood swings. In some instances, kids who had stopped wetting beds will start again (Temke, 2006, p. 2). All these are psychological, and are often due to their searching for the answer as to why daddy no longer lives with mummy.

A divorce occurring when a child is an adolescent or a teen usually leaves him/her with lots of mental torture. The teenagers in this case feel embarrassed at the prospect of belonging to a broken family because societal norms advocate for a complete continuous family. This makes them frustrated and angry thus making them resort to activities that would give them solace.

Some might indulge in drugs while others might indulge actively in sports as a way of ventilating their frustrations to release some pent up energies. Teens tend to be affected a lot because they understand the reasons for their parents’ divorce. This is worse off because they are so helpless to stop the divorce thus ending up frustrated. Divorce comes with divisions in the family.

At times, they are forced to lay blame on one party whom they believe is the cause of the divorce (Elizabeth, 2006, p. 19). This leads to their division as to which side they should take. At the same time, it also comes with new responsibilities for teenagers who might be forced to cope with the different changes happening in their lives on their own on issues like sexual feelings.

The teenagers might also grow up to dislike the institution of marriage by growing doubts on whether they will ever want to get married or whether they could stay in a marriage. A good example of a divorce victim is the musician Enrique Iglesias who feels that there is no point of getting married because, at some point, the marriage might break up. Enrique’s dad had so many marriages, which kept on breaking up.

This informed his decision not to get married. In general, divorce might have lifelong effects to children when it happens as they witness it. Children who grow up in a divorced marriage tend to develop manipulative behaviors. This case happens when there is competition between the two parents when one wants the children to see him/her as being better than the other.

They will therefore shower their kids with favors as a way of winning them over. The moment the kids come to discover what their parents are up to, they will start making demands besides playing the parents against each other. At the back of their minds, they have the knowledge that one parent will definitely give them what the other has refused to give.

This might go on into their adult lives thus giving them undesirable characters. Children growing up in a divorced family might not have a lot of respect for the institution of marriage. They would easily walk out of a marriage in the future with the belief that, after all, their parents’ marriage did not work.

The psychological impact that always afflicts children when they have to attend court sessions to hear out the differences between their parents can be great (Chase, 2010, p.211). This leads to lose of self-esteem in children because they will always be embarrassed by the courtroom drama and the prospect of the news becoming public among their peers.

In many cases, children wish that they were not there to face the situation thus preferring to move away from the area they are staying to a new place where people do not know about their skeletons in the closet.

The children would also ask that they change schools and their complete social setting just to run away from what has happened to their parents. Some children would always wish that their parents got back together. They would do everything in their power to push or convince their parents to come back together.

In conclusion, divorce affects children in the family psychologically and in a negative way. It is in very few instances that one would find a child who was not negatively affected even though it was the only thing that would guarantee them peace and survival. There is always that thought in the children that things should have worked out differently.

Therefore, to save the children on the effects of divorce, there is the need for parents to cultivate some good relations by nurturing everything that strengthens their love bond besides involving their children in matters that convince them positively that marriage is the best institution that every person ought to join when time comes.

Amato, P. (2003). People’s Reasons for divorcing. Journal of Family issues, 24 (5), 602- 626.

Chase, K. (2010). Dicken and the Rise of Divorce: The Failed Marriage Plot and the Novel Tradition. Victorian Institute Journal, 38 (1), 211-214.

Douglas, L. (2005). The Binuclear Family Boom. Library Journal, 130 (14), 49-50.

Elizabeth, M. (2006). No Good Divorce. Christian Century, 123 (3), 18-23.

Isle, I. (2012). Legal Separation Grounds for Divorce: The Legal Process. Retrieved from http://www.divorceaid.co.uk/legal/process.htm

Temke, M. (2006). The Effect of Divorce On Children, Family & Consumer Resources. Hampshire: University of Hampshire Cooperative Extension.

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CAUSES OF DIVORCE AND ITS EFFECTS ON CHILDREN'S WELLBEING IN YEKA SUB-CITY, ADDIS ABABA

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African Scholar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Marriage is an institution that guarantees the procreation, care, socialization and the stability of the family as well as the survival of human race. It is a union of relationship both mystical and physical between a man and a woman meant for long life companionship. Despite the many advantages of marriage, the separation of spouses with their children posed a traumatic danger on all parties. This, without doubt usually leads to breakdown and divorce. This study examined the causes and implications of divorce in four selected electoral wards in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarwa State. The study investigates the most affected party by divorce as well as the extent of the effect on them. Critical literatures were reviewed on the cause and effects of divorce. Functionalist theory was adopted as theoretical framework for the study. As a survey type of study, multi-stage sampling method was used to elicit information from 378 respondents via questionnaire. 8 Key Informants comprising the District Heads were purposively selected and interviewed, their responses were transcribed. Frequency tables were used to describe the quantitative data using SPSS version 20, while regression analysis was used to analyse the data. The study found out that sexual incompatibility between couples significantly leads to divorce. Consequently, it was found that children are the most affected party by divorce in the Study areas. Based on the following findings, the study concludes that divorce is a serious social problem bedeviling Keffi Local Government. It is no gain to say that children and women suffer most by divorce. The study therefore recommends that Proper courtship should be done between a man and a woman before venturing into marriage. Parents should endeavor to socialize the children specifically girls on sex education and the importance of sex in marriage. Couples should also be encouraged to occasionally utilize marriage counseling to aid ameliorate the menace of divorce among many others. Keywords: Marriage, Divorce, Infertility, Couples/Spouses, Family

Adetoro Banwo

IOSR Journals

Globally almost 5 million children are living on street due to divorce. In Ethiopia around 4,042,357 children are living under difficult condition because of families' inability to support their children because of family dissolution (Woldekidan, 2007). This study investigates determinants of divorce and its effects on children's wellbeing in Eastern Wollega Zone of Western Oromia, Ethiopia. Descriptive research design with mixed research approach was employed. Data was collected through questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion from divorced individuals. One hundred fifty-eight (158) divorcees individuals from five districts were randomly selected by simple random techniques from each district. Eight (8) interviews and three (3) focus group discussion were conducted with divorced individuals and zonal high court officer on the factors related to divorce and children wellbeing. Study found that ,peoples in marriage at young age have the higher probability of divorce at the first five years than people at marriage who marry during their older ages. Major socio-cultural factors contributed to divorce in the study area which include age difference between couples, interference from family, repeated conflicts, substance abuse and lack of appropriate communication, the socioeconomic status of spouses insignificantly affects the wellbeing of their family, sexual relationship related factors were rated as a major factor leading to divorce. Children from divorced households are significantly depressed, exposed to financial crises and divorce diminishes children's learning capacity

ADEYIGA Y ADEBAYO

This study examine Factors Influencing Divorce among married couple. Using Keffi local government area of Nasarawa as a case study. The purpose of this research work is to investigate difference in divorce rate between Christian and Muslims. The study also examine the relationship between early marriage and late marriage among married couples in Keffi local government. The study revealed that age, religion and marital infidelity plays a remarkable role in divorce among couple. It also showed that other causes of divorce ranges from childlessness, cruelty, undue interference from mother In-law and poverty. They also asserted that sexual deprivation is among the factors that can influence divorce. A total of 100 participants comprising 50 males and 50 females were used for the study. The participants were selected by using simple random sample technique. A survey research design was adopted and the sample selected from the targeted population was given copies of the questionnaire to measure their response. Chi-square was used to analyze the data to test the observed and expected differences of factors influencing divorce. Finding was discussed in relation to the literature reviewed and recommendations were also made.

This study investigated the prevalence, causes and consequences of divorce in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia. Mixed methods design was employed for the study and both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. For the quantitative data 361 randomly selected households and for the qualitative part 8 divorcees and 8 purposively selected community and religious leaders participated. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data while qualitative data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The quantitative data were analyzed quantitatively using percentage and mean while the qualitative data were narrated and paraphrased. The result of the study indicated that the prevalence of divorce in three consecutive years (2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16) were 24%, 26.28% and 49.72% respectively. Moreover, the data from questionnaire respondents indicate that 46.5% of households were divorced. The major causes of divorce fall under psychological...

Jurnal Dinamika Hukum

Yohanes Lon

This study explores the complexity of marriage for people in Manggarai. Since they are citizens of the cultural community of Manggarai, Indonesian citizens, and members of a Catholic community, their marriage is required to follow the provisions of customary law, religious law, and state law. Using a library and ethnographic approaches, the study compares these laws on the legality of marriage and analyzes their differences and the impacts on the rights and obligations of married couples and children born to the couple. The study discovered that the differences in the provisions regarding the validity of a marriage between the three laws have provided space for the emergence of legal uncertainty and discriminatory treatment of customary marriages which are not legalized by religious law and state law as well as marriages that are divorced civilly but are still valid according to Catholic rules. Such a phenomenon is certainly a portrait of failure or incompetence in the attempt to un...

Sophia Chae

Esther Archibong

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND HUMANITARIAN RESEARCH ISSN

Mulugeta Deribe

Divorce is the legal dissolution of a socially and legally recognized marital relationship that alters the obligations and privileges of the two persons involved. Hence, the main objective of this study was to assess the magnitude of divorce associated factors in Bale Robe town. Purposive sampling was used to select sampling kebeles since all kebeles are assuming to be having a similar attribute in the case of divorce experience. The target participants were selected purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. To get the relevant data for this study the data has employed a qualitative, in-depth interview method with the combination of (FGD), and held archival analysis. The researchers used 12 divorced women for an in-depth interview, and six divorced women for focused group discussion. Thematic qualitative analysis technique has been employed by applying a rigorous data analysis procedure. The study finds that the prevalence of divorce in Robe town was 828 divorce cases were recorded during 2009/17-2011/19. Apart from this, in Odaa Robe, Baha Biftu and Caffe Donsaa divorce cases were 279, 233 and 312 respectively. The study has also identified the causes of divorce were complex and multidimensional such as infidelity, lack of communication, alcohol addiction and chewing khat, religious difference, lack of commitment, family intervention, and Health Problem (HIV/ HIDS). The husbands were refusing to divided property, not sharing money that invests together.

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