Part 1: Background Potential Problem Adolescent children may display many different types of behaviors when coping with a split family of divorce. Parents will try to cover their feelings when going through a divorce in efforts to not upset the children. However, children still suffer and end up stressed out and are left to deal with a wide array of emotions. The emotions may lead to feelings of guilt. Adolescent children often blame themselves for the cause of divorce. Instead of parents sitting down and explaining, the cause of divorce to the children in an age
Divorce, for a child especially, can be a difficult thing to work through. The process of experiencing divorce through the perspective of a child is full of twists and turns and up and downs (mostly downs) and can feel a lot like losing a family member for an unknown reason. You don’t know what happened or how it happened, but you know somehow it did and that is all that matters to you. For the last 5 months, my parents have started the process of going through divorce. For myself, this process so far has been full of anxiety and worry and not knowing what the future entails. All I can say right now is that this event in my life will shape who I am for the rest of my life.
Divorce is is already a messy situation but the second a child gets thrown in the middle of this situation, it gets even more complicated. It is the end of a marriage for the couple but it is the end of a family for the child. Not every child is affected the same. There are a list of things that change emotionally for kids of divorce. They withdraw, they have a stronger temper, they doubt love, they deal with guilt, and having different coping mechanisms with loss (What). Children of divorce miss out on things like family dinner, which plays a bigger role in childhood development than we think. Statistically, according to the CASA report, Children “who eat with their family fewer than three times a week, 20% get C 's or lower on their report cards (Klein).” Children of divorced parents never
Divorce may affect young children somewhat differently than older children. According to Karen DeBord, a child development specialist, there are different stages in childhood, and at each of these stages children have a different understanding of divorce. At the infancy stage children are not capable of understanding the conflict, but may notice a difference in the parents' disposition (DeBord, 1997). Here she states that children may react with a loss of appetite, upset stomach, or anxiety. As a toddler they recognize the loss a parent but cannot reason
“Teen Health and Wellness” expresses that the result on children ages six to eight is most profound. It says they are old enough to realize what is happening but do not have adequate skills to deal with the disruption. It asserts that they often feel a sense of responsibility, experience tremendous grief, and have a pervasive sadness and yearning for the departed parent. According to this article, adolescents' reactions to divorce include anger, a desire for a stable home, and a need for clear boundaries between them and their parents, especially around such issues as sexuality, dating, and household responsibilities. “Dysfunctional Family” testifies that teens that already have to deal with their maturing bodies and minds, divorce is just an added burden (Dysfunctional Family).
Research Paper: The Impact of Divorce on Children Jimmy Trolinger Liberty University On-Line Author Note Jimmy Trolinger, Psychology Student at Liberty University Prepared for Professor Jennifer Kennedy Psychology 210 D-12 Liberty University Abstract Divorce causes many problems for children and has many implications. Psychological implications include mental health problems and behavioral problems. Social roles are turned inside out and upside down. Children are often pulled in many directions. In the United States divorce is very common and often leaves children confused and without options. Many turn toward violence, crime, drugs, and isolation. Studies show how adults can reduce the tension for these children. Other
The rapid epidemic of divorce in the United States within the last 20 years has affected more than one half of the families in the United States. In the past, we have viewed divorce as a short term crisis and not as a longitudinal view of the effects divorce might bring. Divorce does affect children. However, it is not the divorce that is the problem; it is the ongoing conflict between the parents and the child’s coping mechanisms in their own stages of development. Counseling, family therapy, and also having a divorce mediation are all successful ways of coping with the family.
Divorce and Its Long-term Effects Divorce is not only difficult for parents, but even more difficult for the children. It can hit hard and fast but can also be built up from long term damage and stress on the marriage. Children can view their parent’s divorce in multiple ways. They can visually see it, or they can hear it. Children may also not view the divorce at all. Divorce can be sudden, confusing, and hidden. It can be a quick and relieving process, or it could be slow and painful. The relationship could be fought for night after night with little progress being made. The marriage could be fought verbally or even physically. Hurtful words are thrown to bring an end to the relationship and caring words are thrown to keep the marriage alive.
For the majority of the time divorce is extremely hard on the kids, even if parents do everything in their power to keep things amicable. With that said, there are many things that a parent can do to make things easier.
Both parents need to reassure the children the divorce is not their fault. Parents need clear verification that the divorce is a final decision. Encourage a stable and good relationship with the child at visitation; both parents need to be civil towards each other, which prevents the child from having to be pulled in the middle and having to choose sides and one parent. Allow your adolescent to remain an adolescent and not feel they have to fix things or take care of
Through the emotional, spiritual, and psychological effects children experience during a divorce, spiritual distress and uncertainty, fears of commitment and abandonment, and disassociation from relationships manifest themselves in these children. Approximately one million children experience a parental divorce every year (Warner et al), experiencing a variety of positive and negative consequences. Since divorce causes the couples’ pain, they may become absorbed with their own problems, though they continue to be the most significant characters in their children’s lives (“Divorce and Children”). Through the lens of divorce, the journey of maturity acquires a distinct difference in experiences.
YES When it comes to getting a divorce, parent can be positive that their child or children will be affect. The real question in this problem is “How?”. Divorce is a stressful time not just or the parents, but also for the child themselves. There whole world is about to change and unfortunately, they feel as they there is nothing they can do and may in some cases even feel responsible for divorce. Divorce can leave a strain on the child-parent relationship between one parent or even both parents. As common as it is, children will never truly understand why it is happening to their family. Divorce will affect child in the short run and may even have some long term lingering effects.
Overnight their entire life has changed and everything they had believed up until that point is broken. They are left powerless to the decisions of their parents and must learn to cope with feelings of depression, stress, abandonment, and anxiety often times alone. These emotionally scarred children then grow into adults haunted by the parental earthquake that shattered their once happy family and they must live in fear of their own commitment. Divorce is not only the separation between a child’s parents and home, but also the separation between the child and who they thought they
Parenting Issue Topic and Relevance Divorce is a topic that most commonly involves feelings of anger, conflict, anxiety, sadness or depression for all parties involved in the process of divorce (American Psychological Association, 2012). Research suggests that the divorce is not the direct cause of children’s problems, but rather miscommunication that
Introduction: In the last two decades divorce has increased substantially leaving couples single and families broken. Divorce is the reality for many families as there is an increase in divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families. Divorce cannot be overlooked as it negatively affects and impacts youngsters for the rest of their lives. Although it is the decision between two parents’s children are hurt the most in the process. The concept of divorce is extremely difficult for children to understand as there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties. “Will my mom or dad remarry and who will I live with?” are concerns children express while going through divorce. Many