Divorce
The legal end of a marriage, and in many studies separation too. Widowhood, the death of a spouse, is a different event.
Studies mark a person as divorced or separated from a marital-status question or a registry, and some pool the two. It is the status after a marriage ended, not the conflict before it. Widowhood on this atlas is the death of a spouse. Marital satisfaction is how happy a couple is. Divorce is the ending.
Also called divorced, divorced or separated, marital dissolution.
Connected relationships
Meta-analysis · Moderate
Divorce→Dementia
The best evidence finds no effect of divorce on dementia.
A meta-analysis of observational studies found no association between divorce and dementia, although lifelong single and widowed people had a higher risk than married people.
Meta-analysis · Moderate
Divorce→All-cause mortality
Higher divorce increases all-cause mortality.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of older adults found that divorced or separated people were more likely to die than married people, with a risk ratio of 1.16.