Effects of Divorce on Mental Health Through the Life Course

Embargo until
Date
1997-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Hopkins Population Center
Abstract
The long-term effects of divorce on individuals after the transition to adulthood are examined using information from a British birth cohort that has been followed from birth to age 33. Growth-curve models and fixed-effects models are estimated. The results suggest that part of the seeming effect of parental divorce on adults is a result of factors that were present before the parents’ marriages dissolved. But in addition, the results also suggest that there is an effect of the divorce and its aftermath on adult mental health. Moreover, a parental divorce during childhood or adolescence appears to continue to have a negative effect when a person is in his or her twenties and early thirties.
Description
Keywords
DIVORCE, MENTAL HEALTH, CHILDREN
Citation