Children of divorce may be more susceptible to some health problems later in life, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University College London found that people whose parents split before they reached age 16 had significantly higher levels of C-reactive protein -- a blood marker of inflammation that's associated with greater risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
The study, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, included samples taken at age 44 from 7,462 people who participated in the longitudinal 1958 National Child Development Study.
Dr. Rebecca Lacey, lead author of the study, explained that disadvantages that arise after divorce -- economic hardships and fewer educational opportunities, for example -- could be to blame for the health disparity rather than the event of the divorce, itself.
"Our study suggests that it is not parental divorce or separation per se which increases the risk of later inflammation but that it is other social disadvantages, such as how well the child does in education, which are triggered by having experienced parental divorce which are important," she said.
This isn't the first time that a link has been found between divorce and children's health. In 2011, researchers found that children of divorce are more likely to contemplate suicide later in their lives than children whose parents remained together.
Click through the slideshow below for even more interesting divorce-related research findings.
