The ending of a marriage can be a stressful time that is filled with angry quarrels and emotional situations. However, people may be surprised that divorcing can lead to fatal accidents, one study shows. People who go through a divorce were two times more likely than married people to die from the most-avoidable causes of accidental death – dangers such as poisoning or fire. Both married and divorced people had an equal risk of dying from the least-avoidable causes of accidental death, such as boat, car or plane accidents.
These findings were in a report that was published online recently in the Journal of Social Science Research. The researchers tracked data from 1.3 million Americans, ages 18 and older, who survived or died in accidents between 1986 and 2006.
The investigators also found that single people were also two times more likely than married people to die from the most-avertible causes of accidental death and just as likely to die from the least- avertible causes.
In addition, people with low levels of education were more than twice as likely as those with higher levels of education to die from the most-avoidable causes of accidental death. However, education level did not play a part in the least-preventable causes of death.
According to an assistant professor of sociology, more educated people are often more cognizant about health hazards, such as drugs and alcohol. He also reported that people who are married may offer each other support in being healthy and may be there help when a partner needs to deal with a health crisis.
As Minnesota residents know, there are multiple factors that make a divorce a difficult process. The emotions that go together with a divorce can make it particularly hard to deal with the legal and financial matters that need to be handled. There are many circumstances where legal advice can be critical and will help make these decisions easier.
Source: news10.com, “Divorce may raise risk of accidental death” No author given, Nov. 12, 2013
