Depressed? Blame your parents for divorcing

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
February 22, 1999

Matthew Kalman

CHILDREN of divorced parents are up to seven times more likely to suffer depression in adult life than people whose parents did not separate, a new study has found.

The loss of a parent through divorce is more likely to cause depression than loss through death, and separation from a mother or both parents is more likely to cause depression than separation only from a father, says a report to be published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Children who were under nine when their parents divorced were found to be seven times …