June 6, 2017.
According to a study published in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a divorce that goes badly is not without consequences for the health of children. Explanations.
Three times more likely to get sick
We know that children suffer when their parents separate. We now learn that their health could also be affected. In any case, this is what a study conducted by a team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States reveals. According to this work, a difficult separation can leave indelible marks in the child’s body, who would get sick more easily.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers asked 200 people to agree to be in contact with the common cold virus, in quarantine. After 5 days, they were able to observe that participants whose parents had divorced or had separated in a violent manner had three times more likely to get sick than those whose parents had divorced but remained in contact.
Increase in chronic diseases
These results confirmed those of previous studies, which explained that the earlier the divorce in the child’s life, the greater the risk of becoming ill. ” Stress experiences from an early age are not without consequences for physiology and inflammatory processes: they increase the risk of having health problems and developing chronic disease. », Explained Professor Michael Murphy who took part in the work.
We are therefore now able to affirm that not only the affectivity and psychology of the child are damaged by a divorce that goes wrong but that the very health of the child is at stake when this separation is violent. According to the researchers, a childhood injury like this can leave you vulnerable 20 to 40 years later. Further work will need to be launched to deepen and explain these findings.
Marine Rondot
Read also: How to announce and explain a divorce to your children?
