Yes, it is, according to preliminary findings of a recent study, featured over at CNN.com.

Researchers from the University of California at San Diego, Brown and Harvard reported that having a friend, co-worker or sibling go through a divorce increases your own chances of divorce significantly. Here are the numbers:

•      People with a divorced sibling are 22 percent more likely to divorce than those with married siblings
•      People with a divorced friend are 147 percent more likely to divorce than those with friends whose marriages are intact
•      People with divorced co-workers are 55 percent more likely to divorce than those whose co-workers marriages are intact

According to the study, it can even pass to friends of friends:

"For example, a divorcing person confides in a married friend. The married friend doesn't opt for divorce, but relays details of the divorce discussion to a third person, influencing that third person in the chain to get a divorce."

Why does the influence of divorce seem to travel like the flu bug? The researchers explain,

"The idea is based on the theory of social contagion, or the spread of behavior or emotion through a group. In this case, the heated feelings and actions of one person's divorce can be transferred like a virus, causing others to divorce, according to the study."

So, what might that mean for a couple who wants to stay married? Well, I think it's important to realize what the study didn't address. It doesn't tell us anything about any of the participants' beliefs about God and the institution of marriage. It could be that divorce doesn't "spread," but simply that those with similar beliefs about marriage tend to run in the same social circles. But it also might benefit me to take a good look around at what my friends and family are telling me about my marriage.

On The Early Show yesterday morning, "relationship expert" Ian Kerner (great last name, huh?) made an interesting comment about this study:

"You really spend a lot of time with [friends and family]. I think people in your life become influencers.  I think throughout life, in any situation, you have to think about, Who do I hang out with? Are they advocates of marriage? Are they enemies of marriage?"

Over at Boundless, we often encourage singles to pursue relationships with four things: purity, christian compatibility, intentionality and community. In truth, those aspects don't stop with "I Do." Community, especially, is still an essential aspect to a strong marriage. Do you belong to a church that encourages and equips biblical marriages? Are your friends, as Kerner asked, advocates or enemies of your marriage? Do they tear your spouse down or do they encourage you to faithfulness, patience and love? In fact, if divorce can be "contagious," I wonder if supporting each others' marriages could have the same "contagious" effect?

I also don't think that this study means that I need to avoid divorced friends or family members "like the plague." I should continue to reach out and relate to them with Christian love, as I would anyone. But I do need to make sure I'm always getting healthy doses of the Word and God's standards for marriage and be aware of whether the "influencers" in my life are encouraging me toward a healthy marriage.

But, I have to say, that co-worker stat is really intriguing. We choose our friends. We don't usually choose our co-workers. So, what would it be about a co-worker that would influence my marriage?

Kerner also pointed out that the workplace, sitting around having coffee during breaks or having lunch, can become a "viral atmosphere" for gossip, venting and other negative conversations. So, though I can't choose my co-workers, I need to be careful there about what I let my words and ears dwell on.

By the way, the study also pointed out that couples with kids are less likely to be influenced by divorces around them. So, while we often hear that couples "stay together only because of the kids," it could also be that building a family life together contributes to marital happiness and God's continuing plan for marriage. Hmm ... maybe it's time to start that family.

Not long ago I was sitting in a women's Bible study and my dear friend Sarah said: "I'm going to create a T-shirt. On the front it will read: 'Divorce.' On the back: 'Painful At Any Age.'"

The statement was delivered with humor, but its truth was gut-wrenching. Several of my friends have experienced the pain of their parents divorce. Yes, it's painful for young children, but it also hurts when you're an adult.

In "(Broken) Home for the Holidays," author Sarah Baldwin talks transparently about the pain that Christmas seems to illuminate.

It was sometime after college that my parents’ divorce and my dad’s subsequent remarriage ultimately clued me in to something perhaps obvious, but to me surreal: there are things in this life that will never be righted. It sounds so simple. But that profound sense of being stuck was like nothing I’d before experienced. I guess that despite all the mess of this world, I’d always maintained some belief the story wasn’t over -- even if the story needed centuries to unfold. There was always hope.

But here in my family -- as in so many families -- there was no hope. This brokenness would never be made right or restored. Marriage. Divorce. Remarriage. The deal was done.

This realization has more than once brought me to my knees. The only thing that has even come close to reaching me in such halted hollowness is this: “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). I am at a loss; Jesus Christ alone can know just how deep is this loss. His Spirit is my only voice.

Divorce is one of those tragedies that will not be righted in this life. And Baldwin points out that the jolliness of this season cannot mask the loss a broken home brings.

I will never go so far as to say that I feel lucky to know divorce -- its shreddings, its whimpers, its callousness. But I know that my insides groan -- as every person’s does or will for these reasons or others -- and there is blessing in knowing acutely the reason I sit late on December 24th to watch and to wait.... Christmas exists to remember the Advent of our Savior. Our Savior. Christmas is a crafted mercy, if we will allow it to be such for us, that reminds us again and again of the shipwreck and our (eventual) full rescue.

That's why Jesus came. To offer us the full rescue. And that is our hope.

A good amount of what we believe about relationships is just off. And that includes what we believe about divorce. According to David Popenoe, co-director of Rutgers National Marriage Project, the following are myths:

1. Because people learn from their bad experiences, second marriages tend to be more successful than first marriages. Not true.
2. Living together before marriage is a good way to reduce the chances of eventually divorcing. Not true.
3. Divorce may cause problems for many of the children who are affected by it, but by and large these problems are not long lasting and the children recover relatively quickly. Not true.
4. Having a child together will help a couple to improve their marital satisfaction and prevent a divorce. Not true.
5. Following divorce, the woman's standard of living plummets by seventy three percent while that of the man's improves by forty two percent. Not true.
6. When parents don't get along, children are better off if their parents divorce than if they stay together. Not true.
7. Because they are more cautious in entering marital relationships and also have a strong determination to avoid the possibility of divorce, children who grow up in a home broken by divorce tend to have as much success in their own marriages as those from intact homes. Not true.
8. Following divorce, the children involved are better off in stepfamilies than in single-parent families. Not true.
9. Being very unhappy at certain points in a marriage is a good sign that the marriage will eventually end in divorce. Not true.
10. It is usually men who initiate divorce proceedings. Not true.

If you've been divorced, please understand that you have my sympathies. I can't imagine the pain you've experienced, and may still be experiencing. For you, which of these "myths" had you already recognized as such? Do any of these statements strike you as in fact not myths?

If you haven't been divorced, were you surprised by any of these statements? Did you already know, for example, that living together before marriage actually increases your chance for divorce?