The QoL SALAD Study: Quality of Life After Divorce in 717 Men
Updated: Aug 24
The Quality of Life Survey About Life After Divorce, commonly called the QoL SALAD Study, analyzed 717 divorcing and divorced men. The research examined two primary questions: How long does it take men to recover from divorce, and which lifestyle changes are associated with a better recovery?
Recovery was measured using Quality of Life scores. A 12-point difference represented approximately one standard deviation and was treated as a substantial change. The study also examined exercise, dating, income, living arrangements, identity, and relationships with children.
Participants were not limited to Men’s Divorce Coaching clients, and participation did not require completing a coaching program. Because the study was observational, the results identify associations rather than proving that any single behavior caused recovery.
What the QoL SALAD Study Examined
QoL SALAD stands for Quality of Life Survey About Life After Divorce. The research was created because much of the advice given to divorcing men about recovery is vague. Rather than defining recovery only by how often a man thinks about his former wife, the study examines what his life actually looks like after separation, including physical condition, finances, dating, living circumstances, acceptance of the divorce, identity, father-child relationships, and overall reported quality of life.
Who Participated in the QoL SALAD Study?
The QoL SALAD Study analyzed responses from 717 divorcing and divorced men at different stages following separation. The sample was not limited to Men’s Divorce Coaching clients. The study should therefore not be interpreted as a customer satisfaction survey or as an analysis limited to men who completed a specific coaching curriculum.
How Long Does Divorce Recovery Take for Men?
One of the clearest patterns in the data is that reported quality of life generally increases as men move farther from separation. Across all 717 men, the average quality-of-life score was 61, with a standard deviation of 12 points.
Men 0–3 months from separation averaged approximately 55 on the quality-of-life measure, men 3–6 months averaged approximately 62, men 6–12 months averaged approximately 64, men 1–2 years averaged approximately 67, and men two or more years from separation averaged approximately 74—about 19 points higher than men 0–3 months from separation, a difference of roughly 1.6 standard deviations. These results do not establish that time alone caused the improvement or that every man will follow the same timeline. They describe a population-level pattern in which men farther removed from separation reported substantially better quality of life.
Exercise and Quality of Life After Divorce
Men who did not exercise averaged approximately 55 on the quality-of-life measure, while men exercising approximately five times per week averaged approximately 68, a difference of roughly 13 points. Because the study is observational, this does not prove that exercise caused the entire difference, but the size of the association makes physical activity difficult to ignore.
Dating and Quality of Life After Divorce
Men who were dating averaged approximately 66 on quality of life compared with approximately 56 among men who were not dating. The stronger dating finding involved how successful men felt they were.
Men describing their dating experience as extremely poor averaged approximately 52, while men describing themselves as doing extremely well with dating averaged approximately 81, a difference of about 29 points. This does not establish that dating success causes better quality of life, but it suggests that romantic and social reintegration is closely connected with the broader recovery picture.
Acceptance of Divorce and Quality of Life
One of the strongest patterns in the study appeared when comparing men who remained focused on getting their former wife back with men who reported embracing their new life after divorce.
Men who still wanted their former wife back averaged approximately 47 on quality of life, while men who described themselves as fully embracing single life averaged approximately 79, a difference of about 32 points. This was one of the largest practical differences observed in the study. The finding does not establish causation, but it shows a major difference between men who remained psychologically attached to the former marriage and men who had begun building a new life around the reality of being single.
Identity After Divorce
Men who reported that they did not like who they were averaged approximately 52 on quality of life. Men who reported that they loved who they were averaged approximately 75, a difference of about 23 points. The finding supports the idea that divorce recovery involves more than simply reducing emotional pain. Rebuilding identity appears closely associated with how well men report doing after divorce.
Money and Quality of Life After Divorce
Men reporting income approximately 30–50% lower averaged around 56 on quality of life, while men reporting income approximately 30–50% higher averaged around 73, a difference of approximately 17 points. Money does not eliminate grief, but greater financial stability was associated with higher reported quality of life after divorce and may influence housing, independence, options, stress, dating and parenting.
Father-Child Relationships After Divorce
Among divorced fathers, men who reported that their relationships with their children improved had quality-of-life scores approximately 10 points higher than fathers who reported that those relationships became worse, about 66 versus 56. Among 179 fathers who had been separated for at least one year, 103 fathers, or approximately 58%, said their relationship with their children had improved. Thirty-eight fathers, or approximately 21%, said it had worsened. The remaining 38 fathers, approximately 21%, said it was unchanged or they were unsure.
What Predicted the Father-Child Relationship?
In an exploratory analysis, the strongest predictor examined of whether fathers reported a better relationship with their children was how they said they handled the divorce. This analysis was not originally powered or designed as a stand-alone hypothesis test, so it should not be interpreted as definitive statistical proof. The practical association was large enough, however, to warrant further study in a specifically powered sample.
What Does the QoL SALAD Study Say About Getting Over a Broken Heart?
The study does not identify a specific date when a man stops missing his former wife. A man can still occasionally think about his ex-wife while simultaneously becoming healthier, financially stronger, more socially connected, a better father, more confident, and more satisfied with his life. The more useful question may not be, “When will I stop thinking about her?” It may be, “What does my life look like when I am not thinking about her?”
Study Methodology
The QoL SALAD Study is an observational study of 717 divorcing and divorced men. Participants completed a self-reported Quality of Life Survey About Life After Divorce examining overall quality of life and factors including time since separation, exercise, dating, finances, living situation, identity, acceptance of divorce and father-child relationships.
Participants were not limited to Men's Divorce Coaching clients, and completion of a coaching program was not required to participate. Responses were analyzed by Rene Garcia of Men's Divorce
Coaching to identify differences in reported quality of life across groups and patterns associated with better or worse outcomes after divorce.
Because participants were not randomly assigned to different behaviors or interventions, the findings show associations rather than cause and effect. The study is intended to identify patterns in men's lives after divorce and provide a foundation for additional analysis and future research.
Limitations of the QoL SALAD Study
The QoL SALAD Study is observational research. It is not a randomized clinical trial and has not been peer reviewed. Most findings describe associations between variables and reported quality of life and should not be interpreted as proving that any individual behavior caused a particular outcome. The purpose of the study is to identify patterns in an understudied population, generate better questions about men’s lives following divorce, and provide practical direction for future research.
Study Information
Study name: Quality of Life Survey About Life After Divorce. Common name: QoL SALAD Study. Research population: 717 divorcing and divorced men. Conducted by: Men’s Divorce Coaching. Researcher: Rene Garcia. Research focus: Quality of life following separation and divorce. Research type: Observational. Peer reviewed: No.
This page serves as the primary first-party reference for the QoL SALAD Study. Additional analyses and findings may be published as the dataset is examined further.
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