University of Chicago sociologist Linda Waite, who also directs NORC's Center on Aging, recently published the results of a new study on the negative health effects of divorce.  Waite and colleague Mary Elizabeth Hughes, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, will publish their findings in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, September, 2009. The article is entitled, "Marital Biography and Health Midlife."

The study found that, among married individuals, those who had been divorced or widowed were in poorer health, on average, than those who had never been divorced or widowed.

The study also found that remarriage was beneficial but it did not eliminate the negative effects of a previous divorce or the death of a spouse.

Read the press release and view the paper abstract.