Other studies echo Wallerstein's remarks. Zill found effects of divorce still evident 12 to 22 years after the breakup. The National Opinion Research Center surveys found that white female children of divorce were 60 percent more likely to undergo divorce or separation in adulthood than a similar population from intact families. Paradise Lost Much of the attention on the consequences of divorce centers on its effects on children. Though children do indeed suffer greatly from the demise of a marriage, many adults involved are no less affected by the breakup.
Adults involved in divorce are themselves susceptible to numerous maladies.
Studies reveal that divorced man and women suffer to a much greater degree than married persons with early death from cancer, cardiovascular disease, strokes, pneumonia, hypertension and suicide. Divorced adults, particularly divorced men, experience early health problems to a much greater extent than married individuals. Premature death rates for divorced men double that of married men from such causes as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and strokes. The premature death rate from pneumonia is seven times larger for divorced men than for married men. The suicide rate for divorced white men was four times higher than for their married counterparts.