The children of divorced or unmarried parents are significantly more likely to report poor mental health in adulthood compared with individuals whose parents remained married—but this association is largely driven by parental mental illness, according to a study published in Psychiatry Research.Why It’s Relevant
Prior research has established that children of divorced parents are more likely to experience poor mental health outcomes, including greater rates of depression and suicidal ideation. But this association is complicated by the fact that these children are also more likely to experience additional adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
By the Numbers
- Researchers analyzed data from 128,264 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System respondents (52% female), 26% of whom experienced parental divorce during childhood, while 2% reported that their parents never married.
- Among respondents whose parents remained married, 14% reported a depression diagnosis at some point in their lives, compared with 19% among those whose parents divorced or never married.
- Similarly, respondents whose parents divorced or never married were more likely to report experiencing frequent mental distress (14% and 16%, respectively) than those whose parents remained married (9%).
- However, when the researchers factored in parental mental illness or parental substance use, the risk of lifetime depression among those divorced parents dropped by 68% and 49%, respectively. When adjusting for both factors, the association between parental divorce and adulthood depression was no longer statistically significant.
The Other Side
The study’s findings identify a correlation, not necessarily causation, between parental marital status and long-term mental health struggles among adults. Further, the dataset did not include important information such as a respondent’s age at the time of the divorce or the timing of ACEs, so it is unclear if some ACEs (such as a parent abusing alcohol) began before or after the divorce.
Takeaway Message
The findings suggest that it is not necessarily divorced or unmarried parents that increase the risk of adult mental health challenges, but “a constellation of environmental factors that co-occur with parental divorce and unmarried parental status,” the researchers wrote, adding that “[d]ivorce is rarely an isolated event.”
Related Information
Source
Mary Kate Schilke, et al. Long after the split: the association between parental divorce and mental health in adults. Psychiatry Research. Published July 29, 2026. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2026.117337
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/ronstik)
