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Divorce, it has consistently been claimed, will invariably have an adverse effect on anyone that experiences it. Indeed, divorcees are, according to a number of studies, more likely to suffer from a number of health problems when compared to their married counterparts. However, a recent study – conducted by researchers from University College London, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the London School of Economics and Political Science – has revealed that this may not be the case. In order to review how people’s various relationship statuses affected their health, researchers reviewed data concerning 10,226 participants (5,256 of whom were women and 4,970 men), firstly dividing men and women into two separate groups and then diving these into six separate groups in accordance with their varying relationship statuses. Researchers found that men who had never married or cohabited generally suffered from poorer health than men who were or had been married. Interestingly, they also found that men who had married and gone on to divorce but had not remarried were less likely to suffer metabolic syndrome than those that had remained married. Women who married in their late 20s or early 30s were more likely to be healthier than other female participants, though those who had divorced and not remarried, like their male counterparts, were less likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome. In conclusion, researchers argued that ‘transitions such as separation and divorce do not have a long-term health effect.’ In addition, Ruth Sutherland, the chief executive of Relate, suggested that it is the quality of a relationship rather than its status that is most pertinent claiming that previous studies have indicated that those in unhappy relationships are more likely to suffer from poor health than the divorced.