Realidad

Given the downward mobility, loss of old friends, role changes, and task overload of divorced adults, it is not surprising that they often have psychological problems. Many experience anger and anxiety, de- pression and loneliness.42 _{Divorce creates emotional turmoil and} sometimes even mental illness.43

One consistent finding across different studies, including studies of large samples followed prospectively from before the divorce and studies conducted in different countries, is that, on average, divorced adults are more distressed and depressed than married—or single—

adults.44_{Divorced mothers in one large, national British sample, for} example, were almost  percent more likely to be depressed than married mothers.45 _{In another study, one-quarter of the divorced} women, who had been divorced, on average, for fourteen years, had a clinically significant problem with depression.46 _{Other studies have}

Figure -. This figure summarizes economic changes, role changes, social

changes, and personal changes after divorce. Most changes are negative and stressful (rectangles); some changes are positive (ovals).

also documented higher levels of psychiatric symptoms in divorced women compared with married women.47 _{Suicide and suicide at-} tempt rates are higher among divorced men and women in countries around the world.48 _{For example, in a study in Australia, separated} men were six times more likely to commit suicide than married men.49 One-fifth of the women in a study in the United States thought about suicide after their marriages broke up.50_{Divorced women in Sweden} were found to be at increased risk for violence, traffic injuries, and other accidents.51 _{Divorced people also drink more alcohol and de-} velop more addictions.52_{In one study in the United Kingdom, heavy} drinking declined between the ages of twenty-three and thirty-three for the general population, but it increased among people who di- vorced during that age period.53

But are these psychological problems the result of divorce, or the cause? People with problems like drinking and depression are espe- cially likely to divorce, as we saw in Chapter , and they are also less likely to marry in the first place.54_{Moreover, divorcing individuals of-} ten react to the separation with strong emotions such as anger and dis- tress, as we discussed in Chapter . So is there evidence that divorce creates or exacerbates psychological problems that extend beyond the marriage or the immediate separation crisis, or are differences between married and divorced folks simply the result of “self selection” or short- term stress? A substantial amount of research exists on this question, involving large samples of participants. This research suggests that di- vorce does lead to problems beyond those that people had before the marriage ended or that they exhibited in the immediate crisis of sepa- ration.

One kind of evidence that divorce is responsible for psychological problems comes from studies in which researchers control statistically for individuals’ personality problems. These studies show that this con- trol does not eliminate the differences between divorced and married people’s rates of distress and depression, suggesting that these psycho- logical problems are a direct result of divorce.55_{A second kind of evi-} dence comes from studies of people who have gone through divorce more than once. These studies show that when people get divorced for a second or third time they have even worse problems than people who

have divorced only once—more anxiety, more depression, more severe distress.56_{In one study, for example, twice-divorced adults were more} likely to attempt suicide ( percent of the men and  percent of the women who had divorced twice tried suicide compared with  percent of the men and women who had divorced only once).57_{But the third} and perhaps most convincing kind of evidence comes from studies in which individuals have been followed over time to see whether their problems increase and stay high after the divorce. These studies show that increases in problems like depression and drinking begin before di- vorce, rise sharply at the time of separation, and then, over the next few years, decrease somewhat but, on average, not to the same level as for married people.58_{In one example of this kind of research, investigators} David Johnson and Jian Wu conducted a twelve-year-long study of a nationally representative sample of sixteen hundred people who, at the beginning of the study, were in intact marriages.59_{They found lasting} effects of divorce on psychological distress for the  individuals who got divorced over the course of the study. This divorce effect was larger than the effect of selection. The researchers attributed the difference to the different social roles of divorced and married adults, with divorced people experiencing more social isolation, economic hardship, and child-care responsibilities. Another team of researchers examined the relation between divorce and distress in two hundred divorced mothers and three hundred married mothers.60_{For divorced mothers, stressful} events and depressive symptoms increased significantly soon after the divorce (stressful events doubled, from three to six in the first year after the divorce) and then slightly diminished over the next three years— but not to the same levels reported by married women. Divorced women experienced significantly higher occurrences of nearly all stress- ful life events, including having a close friend move away, having a child involved with alcohol, moving to a different residence, and being phys- ically attacked or sexually assaulted.61_{The same pattern appeared on a} depression checklist that assessed how often in the past week they were bothered by such problems as crying easily, feeling trapped, blaming themselves, feeling blue, feeling worthless, and feeling hopeless about the future. Clearly, divorce has a direct effect on adults’ mental health and well-being.