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Women who are divorced may be at more risk of developing physical illnesses than those who aren''t, according to the results of a Iowa State University Study.

Researchers compared the health of both married and divorced women over a span of 10 years to determine whether or not divorce makes an impact on physical health.

“What we found was that the act of getting a divorce produced no immediate effects on (physical) health, but it did have effects on mental health,” said Fred Lorenz, co-author of the study. “Ten years later, those effects on mental health led to effects in physical health.”

Study Details

The findings of the study came from information collected from interviews with rural Iowa women in the early 90s and then again in 2001. Among the 416 participants, 102 of them were recently divorced.

The years immediately following the divorce—1991 to 1994—there was a reported 7 percent increase in psychological stress among divorced women. No physical illness was reported during that time.

However, 10 years later, divorced women developed 37 percent more physical illness that could not be directly associated to the divorce.

According to the study authors, there could be a link between the increased number of illnesses and the various distresses resulting from a divorce, including parenting problems and financial issues.

The data in the study was readjusted for income, education, age, prior health, and remarriage. Researchers found that the 40 divorced women in the study that had remarried or were cohabitating with a partner experienced positive influences on their health.

“We found that divorced individuals who remarried indirectly decreased the risk of health problems because they saw beneficial influences on their financial difficulties,” said K.A.S. Wickrama, a co-author of the study.

This important new research was published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

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