Divorce Transition Differences of Midlife Women

Divorce transition experienced by and its influence upon midlife women's health is not fully understood. Interviews were conducted with 24 divorced women who self-classified into decider status groups: initiator (who first decided to end marriage), non-initiator (recipient of end of marriage decision), and mutual decider (shared decision to end marriage). Interpretive content analysis involving pattern coding was conducted. The divorce transition by initiators (n = 8) included self-focused growth, optimism, and social support losses and opportunities, while the divorce transition by non-initiators (n = 8) included being left, ruminating, vulnerability, and spiritual comfort. No profile emerged for the mutual-decider group (n = 8). This study supports that differences in divorce transition exist for initiators and non-initiators.