Is divorce in your genes?

Personality traits linked to splitting up could be passed on through DNA

DIVORCE could be in the genes, with children of separated parents ‘ programmed’ to split up as well, according to a study.

It has been thought that children of divorce are twice as likely to get divorced themselves because they do not have happily married parents as role models.

But though this may have an influence, a study has found there are strong biological reasons too.

While there is no ‘divorce gene’, the personality traits that often cause marriages to break up – such as extreme negativity or lack of selfrestraint – may be written in

suggesting that genetic factors our DNA and passed on from

are more important.’ To further parents to their children.

Researchers at Virginia State test their genetic hypothesis, University in the US and the researchers looked at Sweden’s Lund University 82,698 people who grew up tested the genetic theory with their biological mother by looking at the marital histories but had an absent father. of more than 20,000 They found that such children adopted children. were still influenced by

They found that these children their father’s divorce history. were more likely to resemble However their own divorce their biological parents and history was more similar to siblings than their adoptive their mother’s, suggesting the families when it came to person they grew up with still whether they ended up being mattered to a degree above divorced – suggesting nature is their genetic inheritance. more important than nurture. The researchers said that

Co-author Dr Kenneth Kendler, divorce is linked to those who of Virginia State University, experience rollercoaster emotions, said: ‘I see this as a quite significant with high levels of negativity finding. and positivity, and low

‘Nearly all the prior literature levels of self-restraint. These emphasised that divorce was transmitted across generations psychologically.

‘Our results contradict that, personality traits can lead to marital problems and instability and could be passed on to children through their parents’ genes, they wrote in the journal Psychological Science.

More than 101,000 marriages end each year in England and Wales, although the divorce rate has plunged to its lowest level in modern times as rising numbers of couples choose to live together instead of walking down the aisle.

Researchers have repeatedly found that children of divorce are more likely to end their marriages, but debate rages over whether this is learned from parents or inherited from their genes. Study lead author Dr Jessica Salvatore said: ‘At present, the bulk of evidence on why divorce runs in families points to the idea that growing up with divorced parents weakens your commitment to and the interpersonal skills needed for marriage.

‘ These previous studies haven’t adequately controlled for or examined something else in addition to the environment that divorcing parents transmit to their children – genes.

‘Our study is, at present, the largest to do this.

‘And what we find is strong, consistent evidence that genetic factors account for the intergenerational transmission of divorce.’