Most Florida residents know that divorce experience can be different depending on your age and how old you are. For example, those who have been married longer are more likely to have children, meaning that child support and custody will probably be factors. More than that, a new study suggests that the age at which people go through divorce can affect how much the end of their marriage affects their health.

The study was conducted by a sociologist at Michigan State University. The researcher examined statistics compiled by Americans' Changing Lives, a long-term national survey. She selected 1,282 participants and looked at the health information they had self-reported over 15 years. Those who went through a divorce in that period tended to have more health problems than those who got married or stayed married during that time.

Interestingly, the health gap was widest among people who divorce at a younger age. For example, among survey participants born in the 1950s, the gap in health problems between married and divorced people between ages 35 and 41 was higher than the difference in health when people in the same age group got divorced from ages 44 to 50.

The researcher believes that generational beliefs about marriage may be a reason behind the findings. Older people usually were told growing up that staying married was important, so that when they divorce later in life, it tends to be because they were very unhappy and could not stay with their spouse anymore. The end of the marriage is therefore a relief, the sociologist said.

Source: Medicalxpress.com, "Divorce hurts health more at earlier ages," Jan. 30, 2012