I found it very interesting that men suffer more health effects than women after experiencing divorce. Reflecting on children who have divorced parents, it did not surprise me that grown children of divorced parents died a little bit earlier than children from intact families. Children who I know with divorced parents tend to turn to risky or unhealthy behaviors as methods of coping. This clearly affects long term health patterns and ultimately longevity, as proven by researchers.
This was an interesting chapter. As traumatic as having one’s parents’ divorce would be, I would think it would be worse to have a parent die and not be present at all in one’s life. Of my close friends growing up, only one had parents who divorced and one had her father die. The one whose father died ending up getting counseling because she was so effected. The one whose parents divorced was initially very upset but seems to have adapted reasonably well. She does a lot of acting so maybe that is an outlet for her. But I guess this book is looking at the overall statistics and not just one individual and it is too early to know how all this might affect their longevity. I can more readily see how having divorced parents might lead to a higher chance of divorce and less stable relationships. Maybe that in the end is the factor that becomes important in longevity.