A UGR study links old divorces with loneliness and lack of support in old age
Topics University of Granada
A study by the University of Granada, the first in Spain on separated or divorced older people, indicates that those who live alone and with little family contact reach old age with support shortfalls and unmet emotional needs.
Marital breakups do not end when living together ends. According to research from the University of Granada, their effects can last for decades and become a factor of vulnerability in old age, especially among those who live alone and have little contact with their children or little social support.
How the study was carried out
This is the first study carried out in Spain on older people who are separated or divorced. It is a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews, which analyzes how the breakup, later family relationships and gender inequalities condition the current quality of life of these people. It is signed by Juan López Doblas, from the Department of Sociology, and María del Pilar Díaz Conde, from the Department of Social Psychology, and has been published in the International Journal of Sociology.
Men: distance from their children
Among men it is common for ties with their children to weaken or be lost after the breakup, which reduces the help available when health problems, dependency or day-to-day difficulties arise. «It could be said that they did not know how to differentiate between their roles as husbands and as fathers, so that the marital breakup also led to their absence from the family scene and to distance from their sons and daughters,» the researchers point out.
Women: more burden and fewer resources
Women face a different reality. They used to take on child-rearing and maintained family ties over the years, but many suffer economic consequences for having raised children alone and for more precarious career paths, which limits their access to professional support if they need assistance or care.
Loneliness and mental health
The study also detects unmet emotional needs. Many of the people interviewed, especially men, show symptoms of depression and feelings of loneliness that they tend to hide. «There are those who have no one to confide a problem to or simply to talk to, due to factors such as distance from their children, the failure of new partner relationships or their social isolation. This makes them vulnerable to feelings of loneliness, mental health disorders and, ultimately, suicidal thoughts or behaviors,» explain López Doblas and Díaz Conde.
More social attention
The authors conclude that separations and divorces, whatever the age at which they occur, can have persistent effects that become chronic and carry special weight in old age, when the need for help and care increases. That is why they consider it necessary to give more social and institutional attention to this group and to develop specific interventions that improve their quality of life.
The study can be consulted in the original publication.