If you have divorced parents, you’ve probably blamed them for a lot of things, including your crappy love life. Well, now science says you’re not wrong. According to a study published recently in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, adult children of divorce have lower levels of oxytocin, aka the “cuddle hormone” that helps people bond.
Oxytocin is released after sex, while snuggling, or when holding or playing with a baby; it induces feelings of love and trust. But apparently, if your parents split when you were a kid, they not only robbed you of stability and a sense of normalcy but of this key chemical component, too. Researchers found less oxytocin in the urine of study participants whose parents had divorced when they were young than in the urine of their counterparts with non-divorced parents.
According to researchers, those with divorced parents “were less confident, more uncomfortable with closeness and less secure in relationships. They rated their own caregiving style as less sensitive and close than did the participants whose parents had not divorced.”
While it’s nice to have validation that our parents destroyed our ability to have healthy relationships, the study doesn’t offer much in the way of suggestions for how to reverse the damage. Oh well. At least when your parents start grilling you over the holidays about why you didn’t bring anyone home to the (separate) family dinners, you have the perfect, highly scientific ammunition with which to shut them down. Accountability is canceled at least until 2021.
Cover Photo: David McGlynn (Getty Images)
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