Gray divorce among migrants and non-migrants in Norway: trends and implications for mental healthcare use

OBJECTIVES: 

The literature on gray divorce, that is, marital dissolution at age 50 or later, has hitherto had little consideration for differences between migrants and non-migrants. Differing family attitudes and socio-economic characteristics may, however, lead to differences between non-migrants and (specific groups of) migrants in gray divorce risks and in the mental health implications of gray divorce. We assess such differences by comparing native Norwegians and five groups of migrants (from Nordic countries; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North Africa, Turkey, and Middle East; Asia) in Norway. 

METHODS: 

Drawing on administrative data covering Norway's full population, group-specific age-standardized divorce rates for the period 1990-2018 are calculated. Group-specific trajectories of mental healthcare use around gray divorce are estimated for the shorter period 2008-2018, using linear probability fixed-effects models. 

RESULTS: 

Age-standardized gray divorce rates have risen for native Norwegians. Rates for migrants are somewhat higher, but for migrants from Eastern Europe, from North Africa, Turkey and the Middle East, and from Asia, no increase in gray divorce risks can be noted. Mental healthcare use rises in the years prior to divorce, peaks in the year of divorce and then declines again. This pattern is largely similar for native Norwegians and the five migrant groups. 

DISCUSSION: 

Despite typically more negative attitudes toward divorce in several migrant communities, gray divorce rates tend to be higher in some migrant groups than among native Norwegians. The mental healthcare use trajectories around gray divorce in native Norwegians and in the migrant groups considered are highly similar.