There was a new blurb on Yahoo (Reuters news feed) on an article that
was published in a UK based journal. The gist of the article was that
women who are jilted by their first live tend to have a higher divorce
rate once they do get married becuase of the past trauma suffered by
them.

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Clarification of Question by lookinginnyc-ga on 27 Dec 2004 18:10 PST

I want a pointer to the article or the news blurb.

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Clarification of Question by lookinginnyc-ga on 27 Dec 2004 18:14 PST

I meant "news" not "new." I saw the blurb late last year.

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 27 Dec 2004 19:18 PST

When did you see this blurb on Yahoo?  Today?  A week ago?  A year ago?

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 27 Dec 2004 19:20 PST

Oops, sorry, I now see that you mentioned that it was "late last year."

Hello.

Okay, I believe that I've locate the study.

The study was entitled, "Partnership History and Mental Health Over
Time."  It was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health, January 2004.  The researchers were Drs. M Willitts, Michaela
Benzeval and  Stephen Stansfeld, all of Queen Mary, University of
London.

From the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health:
"Partnership splits were associated with poorer mental health,
although the reformation of partnerships partially reversed this...
Women seemed more adversely affected by multiple partnership
transitions and to take longer to recover from partnership splits than
men."
http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/58/1/53


The study was reported on various wire services late last year...

From USA Today, December 22, 2003:

"...The researchers also report that men who broke up with their first
partner -- whether married or living together -- had poorer mental
health compared with men who stayed with their first partner...
 Women who stayed with their partners -- whether married or living
together -- had better mental health compared with women who did not.
However, the more break-ups they had and the more subsequent
relationships they had, the more their mental health deteriorated.
 Women who go through several relationships may suffer feelings of low
self-worth, Stansfeld speculates.
...
 Of all those surveyed, women who remained alone after divorce had the
worst mental health, as did women who remained alone after breaking up
with a live-in partner. In addition, women took longer to recover from
an ended relationship than men, Stansfeld's group found."
http://www.healthscout.com/template.asp?page=newsdetail&ap=68&id=516641


From the BBC, December 23, 2003:

"Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London questioned over 4,000
men and women under the age of 65 across Britain.
 They found that men and women whose first relationship lasts stand to
reap the rewards later in life. They are least likely to suffer mental
health problems.
 Unsurprisingly perhaps, the researchers found that the risk of
problems increases if that relationship breaks up.
 Another study published last year said men and women are happier if they marry
 A string of failed relationships has a similar effect. However, women
appear more vulnerable than men.
 The study also found that women take longer to recover after a break-up than men."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3334145.stm

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search strategy:
"first relationship" divorce 2003

I hope this helps.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 27 Dec 2004 20:01 PST

Sorry for the typo in the first sentence:

"... I've located ..."

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Request for Answer Clarification by lookinginnyc-ga on 27 Dec 2004 21:04 PST

this is not the right study. the one i am looking for explicitly
stated that women who are dumped by their first love typically end up
having a higher likelyhood of getting divorced because they are not as
trusting anymore. The study you have quoted deals more with mental
health of both men and women after divorces and breakups.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 27 Dec 2004 21:23 PST

Well, it was a UK study, and it was widely reported on the wire
services late last year (December 2003).

Moreover, the study does explicitly involve with the effect of failed
first relationships on later marital relationships.     The study
clearly involves "breaking up with a first partner," "women who go
through several relationships," and divorce.

Perhaps the Reuters (?) article that you read merely emphasized the
findings of the study in a different way.

You might consider purchasing the full text of the journal article to
read its findings in detail.
http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/58/1/53

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 27 Dec 2004 21:27 PST

Also, the statement in the BBC article that "women take longer to
recover after a break-up than men" sounds like the basic point about
women's "past trauma" affecting their relationships.

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Request for Answer Clarification by lookinginnyc-ga on 27 Dec 2004 21:56 PST

the article i am looking for mentioned an explicit linkage between
failure of FIRST LOVE and DIVORCE RATES. This is not the article. The
timing might have been the same. I will purchase the article and let
you know if it is the right one, though I doubt it.