PARENTAL DIVORCE - EFFECTS ON INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR AND LONGEVITY

Using an archival prospective design, the authors studied associations among parental divorce occurring during participants' childhood, adul t psychosocial mediators, and mortality over the life span of a subgro up of participants (N = 1,261) in the Terman Life Cycle Study (1921-19 91). Children from divorced families grew up to show a higher risk of premature mortality across the life span. The higher mortality risk fo r men was explained, in part, when 3 mediating factors were controlled : Men who had experienced parental divorce were more likely to have th eir own marriages end in divorce, obtained less education, and engaged in fewer service activities. Women who had experienced parental divor ce smoked more and were more likely themselves to divorce, both of whi ch predicted higher mortality risk. The findings extend previous work on the negative sequelae of parental divorce to long-term effects on p ersonality and longevity.