RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina is in the top 20 states to get a divorce, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 2.7 divorces per 1,000 in 2022. New studies are finding divorce could lead to health issues for children later in life.
What You Need To Know
- North Carolina saw a 6.3 marriage rate and a 2.7 divorce rate in 2022
- Children from divorced homes are found to have more health issues later in life
- A new study suggests kids from separated homes are over 60% more likely to have a stroke once over the age of 65
- Stress altering hormones and development along with social factors are linked to this finding
Inside the infant class at the Little Makers Academy in Raleigh, teachers Mariela Castro and Loubna Sahli make sure every student is engaged and learning.
“I am very happy to be the first teacher in their life and introduce all of them in the first level of education,” Castro, the lead teacher, said.
While their students are learning through songs and activities, like tummy time, they are also learning to make valuable relationships and trust building skills.
“They need to feel comfortable with me and safe in this classroom,” Castro, a mother herself, said.
Unfortunately, not all children get the same care as seen in the infant class at the Little Makers Academy.
Events such as divorce, changing schools or other large life altering events when a child is developing can alter the way children establish relationships and their own identity.
“They learn what it means to ask for help or not ask for help. As they get older, being able to seek social support and decisions around whether or not to do that is embedded in these first 18 years,” said UNCG Department Chair of Human Development and Family Studies, Dena Phillips Swanson.
Swanson has been working with the development of children connected to their past and health since the 1980s, specifically focusing on cardiovascular health.
New studies by researchers from the University of Toronto, Tyndale University and the University of Texas at Arlington find children who were not abused and come from a home where their parents divorced before they were 18 are over 60% more likely to have a stroke after they turn 65.
“You've heard the talk about the flight and the fight and flight kind of framing. But there comes a point where if the stress is prolonged, it then begins to have a negative effect on the body. And if it if it's not addressed, it beget the body can begin to break down in really minor ways initially. But those minor ways exacerbate over time,” Swanson said.
The study "Parental divorce’s long shadow: Elevated stroke risk among older Americans," posted on PLOS in January, shows that while there is no direct link to why children who come from divorced homes are more likely to have a stroke, biological factors such as stress altering hormones for the bodies development and social factors like the stigma of divorce could be key points.
“It's also about how the community viewed them being from a divorced family. And that stigma around divorce could very well have been where exacerbated. So the children didn't know how to navigate that. Not only are they dealing with family, but they're dealing with how their social networks are viewing them. If they don't have skills on how to deal with that, that followed them into adulthood,” Swanson said.
In 2022, North Carolina’s marriage rate was 6.3 marriages per 1,000 residents according to the CDC. That same year, the state saw a 2.7 divorce rate.
The National Institute of Health says children from separated homes may have more disruptive behavior, anxiety and overall health issues.
Swanson says to make sure children who are going through life changing events have a safe space to talk about their feelings.
“We often assume that they're not stressed, and children are giving them a space to be able to talk about what they're experiencing and to affirm who they are. Even in the midst of challenging times,” Swanson said.
It's why every song, smile and memory Castro and Sahli make in their classroom means more than they may ever know.
“I say our job is not easy because it is not only to feed them and change their diapers, we are educators too. We are helping them growing up in the positive way,” Castro said.
