Autism Not Linked to Higher Divorce Rates

Autism, a mental health disorder that affects social development and is typically diagnosed in children prior to their third birthday, has often been blamed for being partially responsible for increasing divorce rates. While Autism may be a stressor in the lives of the parents who are raising the autistic child, it’s not more likely to cause divorce than any other relationship factor, according to a mental health study conducted by the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD). In fact, parents of children with autism are not any more likely to end up divorced than parents of children with Autism or other disabilities. The research, which was conducted in response to claims that Autism contributed to the divorce rate, analyzed the parent relationships of more than 70,000 children.

The study refuted claims that having an Autistic child contributed to divorce and in fact showed that parents of Autistic children had a similar divorce rate to that of parents of children without disabilities. In fact, according to the research, the numbers were almost identical: 65 percent of parents of kids with Autism are married versus 64 percent of parents whose children are not disabled.

The director of CARD, Brian Freedman, acknowledged that parenting a child with autism does add stress, but that “it doesn’t necessarily result in the family breaking up more often than would occur in another family.” Freedman is pleased with the results of the study, and says he hopes that parents who have a child who has been diagnosed with Autism will take heart from the news, since many times the divorce rate for parents of Autistic children is claimed to be near 80 percent.

The divorce rate in the United States, according to the most recent data available, is 38%, according to the National Center of Health Statistics, with nearly half of all divorces occurring within the first five years of marriage.  The leading causes of divorce are lack of communication, intimacy problems, and infidelity.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News.