Young married couples in Illinois should pay particular attention to the findings of an ongoing study published in January's "Social Science & Medicine." According to the study, those who divorce at younger ages are more likely to suffer from health issues later in life than those who divorce at older ages.

A researcher at Michigan State University reviewed the self-reported health data of 1,282 people over 15 years. She analyzed the gap in health between those who remained married during the study and those who decided to get divorced -- paying particular attention to the ages among the participants in the study.

The researcher discovered that those who divorced between the ages of 35 and 41 reported more health problems than those who divorced in the 44 to 50 age range, which surprised the researcher.

In a statement released by MSU, the researcher said, "I would have expected divorce to carry less stress for the younger generation, since divorce is more prevalent for them."

She did offer one possible reason for this unexpected finding -- that older couples may have been the most unhappily married because of the increased pressure amongst their generation to stay married, leading to a greater feeling of relief when they actually did decide to divorce.

As anyone who has been through a divorce can tell you, it can be an emotionally charged situation that can detrimentally affect your mental health, but as this study shows, it can potentially impact your physical health as well. Unfortunately, divorce is unavoidable in some situations, and in those instances an experienced attorney can help guide you through this stressful process.

Source: Huffington Post, "Divorce Study: Splitting More Painful At Younger Age," Jan. 30, 1012