Divorce is increasingly common in Nigeria and is associated internationally with poorer mental and physical health. Evidence on how Nigerian communities perceive the causes and health consequences of divorce remains limited.To assess residents’ perceptions of the predictors of divorce and of its mental and physical health effects in Ilorin West Local Government Area (LGA), Kwara State.A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 425 married and divorced adults selected by multistage sampling from Adewole, Oko-Erin and Wara-Osin wards. A structured, researcher-developed questionnaire on a four-point agreement scale was used, and data were analysed descriptively with SPSS version 27. Infidelity was the most frequently endorsed predictor of divorce (53.4%), followed by domestic violence (51.3%), substance abuse (50.8%) and poor communication (50.1%); cultural or religious differences were endorsed least (47.1%). The most endorsed mental health effects were depression (54.6%) and low self-esteem (53.6%), and the most endorsed physical effects were increased blood pressure (54.8%) and stress (52.9%). Heart disease was the least endorsed physical effect (47.5%). For every item, endorsement lay between 47% and 55%, indicating divided opinion.Residents most often attribute divorce to infidelity, domestic violence and substance abuse, and associate it with depression, low self-esteem and raised blood pressure, although views are sharply divided. Premarital and marital counselling, integration of mental health services into primary care, and post-divorce health screening are recommended.
Keywords: Divorce, Domestic Violence, Mental Health, Nigeria, infidelity, marital dissolution, physical health
