NEW REPORT DOCUMENTS CONSEQUENCES OF DIVORCE

                                                                                                                                                                             Vol. IX, No. 5, May 1996

According to research summarized in a new report by the National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR), divorce has serious economic and public health consequences that affect everyone. The Costly Consequences of Divorce explores the changes in America's attitudes toward marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and parenting and then takes readers through a step-by-step analysis of the potential adverse emotional, physical, psychological, and economic stresses that occur for adults and children as a result of marital disruption. Findings include”

 – Men who are separated or divorced receive hospital psychiatric care 20 times more frequently than married men.

– Men who divorce heighten their risk of cancer about as much as if they had taken up smoking a pack or more of cigarettes per day.

– Divorce now ranks as the number one factor linked with suicide rates in large U.S. cities.

– Family factors such as marital disruption, parental conflict, and rejection play important roles in determining who might eventually abuse alcohol or drugs.

– Children who have experienced a divorce often score worse on measures of self-esteem, psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and emotional and behavioral problems than do children living in intact families or even children living with single mothers who have never been married.

– Children in disrupted families are more likely than those in intact families to drop out of highschool.

For more information or to purchase a copy of the full report, call National Institute for Healthcare Research, 6110 Executive Boulevard, Ste. 908, Rockville, MD 20852 or call 301-984-7162.

[Reprinted from AFA Journal, May 1996. To subscribe write: AFA journal, P.O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803.]