People who have been through a divorce are as healthy as couples in stable marriages, according to a new study.

The upheaval of divorce, separation and remarriage might not be as bad for health as is generally believed, shows the study by researchers from the University College London institute of education, London School of Economics and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Lead author Dr George Ploubidis, a population health scientist at the institute of education, admits he was surprised by the results. Previous studies have shown that relationship breakdowns can have a negative impact on health.

He said: “I think the results we found are very interesting. We expected that when you have a lot of transitions in life, you have worse health but actually transitions such as separation and divorce do not have a long-term effect.”

Most of the divorcees they analysed had also “bounced back” and started new relationships. “For those people who experience separation and divorce, it appears that as long as they begin another relationship, their health does not suffer in the long term,” Ploubidis explained.

Relate, which is calling for relationship support to be made available by the NHS, believes more research is needed into the link between research and health.

Ruth Sutherland, the chief executive of Relate said: “This is an interesting study which helps to show that there is most certainly life after divorce.

“Rather than focusing solely on relationship status, we also know that relationship quality is a hugely important factor here. For example, previous research suggests that individuals in poor-quality couple relationships have worse health than those in happier ones and those who are unhappily married are at greater risk of poor health than divorced people.”