Study: Men Fare Better Than Women After “Gray Divorce”

We recently published a blog post discussing a study that researched how gray divorce impacts the familial landscape. Essentially, the study indicated that women maintain closer ties with their adult children directly following a divorce, while men tend to lose contact with their children or interact with them less frequently. This study was conducted in Germany, and surveyed over 40,000 couples post-divorce.

Now, another study conducted in China has more to say about gray divorce and which sex fares better directly following the divorce. While this may fly in the face of other studies conducted on the matter, gray divorces only involve those over the age of 50. According to the Chinese study, men are much more likely to rebound faster after a divorce than their wives. The study indicates that men are much more likely to take on a new partner faster than their wives and are less likely to use antidepressants after the marriage is over.

While the rate of antidepressant consumption increased for both husbands and wives following a gray divorce, women tended to take the medication with more frequency than their former husbands.

Analyzing the study 

According to the study, depression later in life is relatively common with 10 to 15 percent of those over 55 experiencing clinically significant depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, gray divorce is also on the rise across many developed nations including the United States. With populations living longer, gray divorce has seen significant increases over the past 20 years, so it has become a major area of study for sociologists across the world.

The researchers studied antidepressant use in 228,644 individuals aged 50 to 70 who had gone through a recent divorce, relationship break-up, or bereavement. They also studied re-partnering in individuals who had recently gone through a divorce. According to the study, 53,460 individuals entered into a new relationship within two to three years of their divorce.

The findings of the study, however, indicated that more men than women re-partnered after a relationship break-up or bereavement. For those whose partners had recently died, both men and women increased their use of antidepressants by 5.5 percent in men and nearly 7 percent in women. Also, antidepressant use increased in the six months before a divorce by 5 percent in men and 7 percent in women. The study indicates that men began to taper their use of antidepressants earlier than women. In fact, women increased their intake of antidepressants even after the first year of a break-up or bereavement.

The researchers concluded that women struggle more after the break-up of a marriage or committed partnership than men as the emotional costs fall more heavily on women and emotional support in another relationship is stronger for men.

Talk to a Tampa, FL Divorce Lawyer Today 

Westchase Law, P.A. represents the interests of Tampa, FL residents who are seeking a divorce. Call our Tampa, FL family lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin advocating on your behalf right away.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/health/medical/study-shows-older-women-struggle-more-with-gray-divorce-than-men/ar-BB1hVswT?ocid=weather-verthp-feeds