Marriage & Divorce

Don't want to post on the new relationships & sex site since that's upbeat and don't want to be a downer. Have seen references to high numbers of divorce in SCI marriages. Any stats or info on how long after SCI this usually happens? Curious if there is a "wall" you can work past like the 7 year itch or something.

[Scorpion]

Stillcrazy,

I don't have the stats, but I believe the divorce rate for couples married before SCI is pretty high. On the contrary, I believe couples married when one is already paralyzed have similar divorce rates to that of the general population. I think KLD posted stats on this once back in the SpineWire days, but I'm not sure.

~Rus

"Because you're not promised tomorrow." ~ Stuck Mojo

[SCI-Nurse]

According to "Spinal Cord Injury: Clinical Outcomes from the Model Systems" (Stover, DeLisa, & Whiteneck, 1995)of those married at the time of injury 4.2% get separated in the first year (the peak) declining to 1% by year 15. Divorce rates range from 2.2% and 3.1% annually for years 1-8 and declines sharply thereafter. If separated, 11.5-28% will divorce within the year.

Males with SCI were more likely to be divorced from AB partners than females with SCI. The older the person at the time of injury, the less likely to divorce. Other factors which increase the risk of divorce are childlessness, more severe injury, previous divorce, female and African-American. This is also true for the AB population (except for injury severity of course).

Overall, the rate of divorce at any time after the injury for those married at the time of injury is 15%. For those married after the injury, the divorce rate is 21.7%

Of those who are single at the injury, 88.5% are still single 5 years later. (KLD)

[Jeff]

I had thought like Scorpion that marriages begun after injury would be more stable than those that endure the injury. I'm not surprised with the last statistic. I know first-hand how difficult it is to find a spouse.

[antiquity]

What SN posted is different from what I've read also. I read that AB spoused were more likely to divorce their wives than their husbands and that although marriages before an injury were more likely to fail, marriages after an injury equaled the norm in terms of survival.

[Wise Young]

Interesting summary:

http://otpt.ups.edu/Medicine/SCI-LecOutline.html

Marital status of SCI population (avg 14 years post-injury): Twice as many divorced as in general population. In a study of 622 persons reported by by DeVivo, Hawkins & Richards reported in Arch Phys Med Rehabil 1995 Feb;76(2):130-8 the divorce rate was 1.7 times that expected in the general population. Men and remarried persons had higher divorce rates than women and persons marrying for the first time, and lower education was associated with a higher rate of divorce. Level of injury also had an effect on divorce rate: thoracic--not cervical--injuries that were associated with the highest rate. The impact of SCI on postinjury marriages is only slightly less than it is on preexisting marriages.

[martha]

never mind.