Yes, divorce can be contagious. An April 2014 joint study from Brown University, Yale University and the University of California, San Diego, found that people are 75 percent more likely to be divorced if one of their friends is divorced.

Copycat divorces usually occur because someone is unhappy in their marriage and wishes they were divorced—they but don’t have the guts to go through the turmoil, life-changing, emotional upheaval that a divorce causes. It is even more complicated when children are involved. By seeing their friends do it first gives people the strength to follow suit. Another reason for copycat divorces is having divorced friends provides a built-in support group. It helps to have someone to talk to who relates to your situation.

Break-ups within friendship groups force couples to start questioning their own relationships and reduce the social stigma of splitting up, even when children are involved.

Often when someone is getting a divorce or has gotten a divorce, their friends distance themselves from them, making them an outcast. They don’t want to catch their “disease.”