“To Divorce Is to Die a Bit...”: A Longitudinal Study of Marital Disruption and Psychological Distress Among Swedish Women and Men

Abstract

Data from the 1981 and 1991 Swedish Level of Living Surveys are used to analyze any impact of divorce on individuals' psychological well-being. The longitudinal structure of the data set makes it possible to follow respondents, and any change in their civil status, over time. The results reveal that divorcees, both female and male, reported a higher risk for psychological distress in 1991 than did their married and cohabiting or remarried counterparts. In general, this is only to a very limited extent because of divorcees having a lower well-being already before the divorce (in 1981), and the difference in well-being cannot be entirely explained by other factors (e.g., income or access to social support) either. An interesting gender difference is found as psychological distress precedes divorce among women, whereas, instead, it lasts longer following divorce among men.