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A factor-analytic study of the social characteristics of the states of the USA in 1980 identified seven clusters of social variables. The divorce rate was associated only with a cluster which appeared to measure social instability (high rates of suicide, interstate migration and alcohol consumption and low rates of church attendance). The prevalence of separated persons showed a different pattern of associations from the prevalance of divorced persons.
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Yang et al. (1991) studied this question.
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