Divorce and Health: An Intimate Partner Abuse Perspective

Divorce is a risk factor for aging-related morbidities and faster biological aging, but some individuals are resilient after divorce and others show health improvements. The objective of this study is to determine whether intimate partner abuse (IPA) that occurred in prior marriages, and particularly coercive controlling violence accompanied by fear, helps explain variation in health among divorced persons. This objective will be tested separately for males and females. Data from the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), a cross-sectional survey of 16,000 persons in the U.S., will be used to address the research objective. Males and females with a marital status of divorced (N = 1,411) will be included in this study. Mixture modeling will be used to identify subgroups of divorced persons using indicators of abuse and fear in prior marriages. Associations between subgroups and measures of health will be tested, adjusting for age, income, and other lifetime trauma.