Author Topic: Divorce runs in families....  (Read 947 times)

Sriram

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Divorce runs in families....
« on: October 09, 2017, 07:10:28 AM »
Hi everyone,

Here is a Science Daily article about divorce running in families.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171004151226.htm

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Children of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced when compared to those who grew up in two-parent families -- and genetic factors are the primary explanation, according to a new study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden.

"We were trying to answer the basic question: Why does divorce run in families?" said the study's first author, Jessica Salvatore, Ph.D.,............ "Across a series of designs using Swedish national registry data, we found consistent evidence that genetic factors primarily explained the intergenerational transmission of divorce."

The study's findings are notable because they diverge from the predominant narrative in divorce literature, which suggests that the offspring of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced themselves because they see their parents struggling to manage conflict or lacking the necessary commitment, and they grow up to internalize that behavior and replicate it in their own relationships.

"I see this as a quite significant finding. Nearly all the prior literature emphasized that divorce was transmitted across generations psychologically," Kendler said. "Our results contradict that, suggesting that genetic factors are more important."

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FYI.

Cheers.

Sriram

PS: How this explains the fact that divorces have been increasing in recent decades, even in communities where they were almost unknown, is not clear!
« Last Edit: October 09, 2017, 07:53:33 AM by Sriram »

Rhiannon

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Re: Divorce runs in families....
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2017, 09:02:14 AM »
Maybe. It takes strength of character to get away from abusive or even just miserable situations and that may well have a genetic component.

floo

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Re: Divorce runs in families....
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2017, 12:23:22 PM »
There have only been two divorces in my large family. Admittedly I did try to persuade my parents to divorce when I was 15; I was sick of the constant rows as they had never got on. Unfortunately they stuck it out for 58 years, which did no one any favours at all! :o

Robbie

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Re: Divorce runs in families....
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2017, 11:00:09 PM »
I don't have up to date statistics (somebody else no doubt will), but a few years ago it was said that one in three marriages ended in divorce; stands to reason that children of divorced parents and children of parents who aren't divorced, will sometimes be divorced.  I don't see anything genetic or hereditary in it, it's the way of the world.  Many very happily married people with children were married, sometimes for a relatively short period, before their current marriage! People do not put up with unhappiness in marriage as they did in the past though most will try to make it work for a while if they feel there might be a chance.  There comes a time when it's best for all concerned to pull down the curtain.  So I do not see the Science Daily article as revealing a big deal, most families have at least one divorce and those that don't aren't necessarily happy.

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ippy

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Re: Divorce runs in families....
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2017, 11:20:14 PM »
I don't have up to date statistics (somebody else no doubt will), but a few years ago it was said that one in three marriages ended in divorce; stands to reason that children of divorced parents and children of parents who aren't divorced, will sometimes be divorced.  I don't see anything genetic or hereditary in it, it's the way of the world.  Many very happily married people with children were married, sometimes for a relatively short period, before their current marriage! People do not put up with unhappiness in marriage as they did in the past though most will try to make it work for a while if they feel there might be a chance.  There comes a time when it's best for all concerned to pull down the curtain.  So I do not see the Science Daily article as revealing a big deal, most families have at least one divorce and those that don't aren't necessarily happy.

Good post Rob, sounds about right to me.

Ippy

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Re: Divorce runs in families....
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2017, 09:02:03 AM »
One of the problems we have in discussing this is that the academic source, the original paper containing details of methodology, results, statistical analysis etc has not yet been published. I share Robinson's uninformed feelings that divorce patterns are likely to be acquired rather than innate, learned rather than inherited, nurture rather than nature.

There is mention in the Science Daily article of personality. it could be that individuals with particular inherited personality characteristics may be prone to identifying other particular inherited characteristics as their preferred marriage partners and thus establishing potentially unstable relationships. But this is merely a supposition on my part. We shall have to wait until the source document is available.

This is one of the problems of relying on sources such as Science Daily for reliable information.
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