People who are married but thinking about divorce shouldn’t rush to act on these thoughts as there is a good chance they will change their mind.

 

This is one of the findings from new US based research, which revealed that around 50% of those considering divorce had changed their mind twelve months later.

 

The study, by researchers at the University of Alberta and Brigham Young University, split those thinking about divorce into three groups, depending on how frequently they thought about divorce, how serious their marital issues were and how hopeful they were about the future of their marriage. After a year, around half of people had switched groups.

 

“Given today’s society, it’s almost impossible not to think about divorce when things are rough,” explained co-author Adam Galovan, a family scientist in the University of Alberta’s Department of Human Ecology. “Because we all know someone who has divorced—and we often hear the somewhat misleading statistic that one in two marriages end in divorce—it makes divorce seem commonplace.”

 

“A lot of times when things are bad, people feel they need to fix it and don’t know what to do, and so divorce is the default,” he said.

 

Galovan said that couples should be aware that thinking about divorce is not unusual, but that these thoughts can change and can actually be used to help improve a marriage.

 

“Couples can take these thoughts as an invitation to look at their relationship and do what they need to do to improve it,” he added.

 

Contact Us

If you are currently going through a divorce or separation then contact our specialist family lawyers today.