What divorce damages, remarriage cannot heal
Seema Singh -
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 9:54 AM
Marriage and health have a close connection, whatever level - physical or metaphysical -- you may want to consider.
So, when researchers say divorce, and widowhood, have a lingering and detrimental impact on health even after a person remarries, you take notice.
To be published in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, the research, intriguingly titled Marital Biography and Health Midlife, shows: "Among the currently married, those who have ever been divorced show worse health on all dimensions. Both the divorced and widowed who do not remarry show worse health on all dimensions."
Several previous studies have looked at how health and marriage impact each other, this study, claim authors from the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University, is the first to examine both marital transitions and marital status on a wide range of health dimensions.
Based on genetics and other factors, people enter adulthood with a particular "stock" of health, other studies have shown. "Each person's experience of marital gain and loss affect this stock of health...For example, the transition to marriage tends to bring an immediate health benefit, in that it improves health behaviors for men and financial well-being for women." These advantages are enhanced throughout marriage.
(Seeing healthy men and 'wealthy' (relatively) women around me, can't help but agree. How about you? )
The impacts of marriage, divorce and remarriage on health are based on the ways in which the various illnesses develop and heal, researchers say.
While some health situations, like depression, seem to respond both quickly and strongly to changes in current conditions, other conditions like diabetes and heart disease develop slowly over a substantial period and show the impact of past experiences. "Which is why health is undermined by divorce or widowhood, even when a person remarries."