Children whose parents divorce face a variety of challenges. Among them: a higher risk for stroke as adults, according to a new study.
Prior research has shown links between adverse child experiences, which include parental separation, with a variety of chronic health problems, including diabetes, cancer, depression and even stroke. Adverse child experiences, known as ACEs, also include physical, sexual and psychological abuse, having family members with mental illness or who use drugs, and neglect. A 2020 study found that adults with four or more ACEs are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease and have a higher likelihood of dying early than adults without any.
MORE: Philly's first bird flu case is a sick goose, but threat to humans is low, officials say
A study published Wednesday got even more granular, showing that Americans 65 and older, who had never experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse, had a 61% higher risk of stroke if their parents divorced before they hit adulthood. The association between divorce and stroke risk remained even when researchers controlled for other known stroke risk factors, such as diabetes and depression. The study also showed that parental divorce in childhood was on par with depression and diabetes as a risk factor for stroke.
The researchers used data from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, examining responses from more than 13,000 older Americans. Nearly 14% of respondents had experienced parental divorce during their childhoods.
Parental divorce "may act as a catalyst for chronic stress" which can lead to a heightened stroke risk in adulthood, the researchers wrote.
"From a biological embedding perspective, having your parents split up during childhood could lead to sustained high levels of stress hormones," said the study's lead author, Esme Fuller-Thomson, of the University of Toronto. "Experiencing this as a child could have lasting influences on the developing brain and a child's ability to respond to stress."
People with sleep disorders are at higher stroke risk, and prior research has found that having parents who divorce is linked to sleep disruption that can last into adulthood. The new study was not able to control for sleep disorders. More research is needed into how sleep disruption may "play a role in mediating the association between parental divorce and stroke," the researchers wrote.
Additionally, the researchers had information about the participants' current income levels, but not their childhood household incomes. Research has shown that childhood poverty is a significant risk factor for stroke in adulthood. "Future studies should take into account measures of childhood poverty to uncover the role it may play in the association between parental divorce and stroke," the researchers wrote.
