Another mental health problem a child can develop is depression. A child with depression may be sad more often than not, feel guilty or helpless, and may lose interest in pleasurable things or things they previously enjoyed. Other mental health issues that may arise from the divorce of the child’s parents are antisocial behavior and hyperactivity (Strohscein, 2012).
Divorce is defined as the legal end of a marriage. But, it is more intricate than just the completion of a relationship. A common belief regarding divorce is that it entirely involves two parents. However, when a marriage ends in divorce, all individuals associated to the relationship, including children, are affected. As the number of divorces each year continues to increase, researchers have become more concerned with the effects divorce has on children.
Unfortunately divorce is at an all-time high around the world today and there aren’t any signs of it slowing. Numerous amount of stress can stem from divorce, not only for the couple involved but for the child or children involved as well. This paper reflects on the many different effects that divorce can have on children ages eighteen and under in the United States, as well as other countries. In comparison, studies show that there is usually an emotional disconnect involving children of divorced parents or ones whom have begun the long strenuous process. The emotional disconnect can cause children to act different in more
The key research question in this study is what are the long term effects of parental divorce on a child’s relationship between their parents and their siblings? They took into consideration variables such as age of divorce, gender, and living arrangements so they can see what influence they may have on the present study results and compare it with previous studies. They gave 3 different surveys to 102 students with married parents and 107 students with divorced parents to be able to observe the differences in relationships between the two types of families. Some of the key findings of this study are that females actually have better adult relationships with their siblings and that divorce caused the children to have better relationships with their mother, and worse relationships with their father. They noted that the age when their parents got divorced was not a variable that affected whether or not they had a good relationship with their siblings. For the relationship between their mothers, it was better unless there was a variable of pre-divorce or post-divorce conflict between them. For their fathers, it showed that daughters had worse relationships with their fathers compared to sons. Living arrangements showed effects for both of the parents depending on which parent they lived with. When it comes to remarriage, it had a positive affect on mother-child relationship when the father got remarried and no affect when the mother was remarried.
This paper discusses the correlation of children with divorced parents and their ability or inability to have intimate relationships in their futures. In most cases, it depends on the age of the child at the time of the divorce. Studies showed that marital problems, including but not limited to divorce, was associated with negative social, emotional, and physical affects in the children’s lives. Most articles included have different types of specific details, but all generally have the same outcome, being that children with divorced parents love differently than those that have parents happily married. Similar studies surveyed college students and discovered that children with fathers, who divorced and remarried, did not have a close relationship, which made these children more likely to avoid relationships. This literature review discusses the impact that divorce has on children who have or do not have relationships because of what happened to their parents’ relationships.
In today 's society, divorce or remarriage rate has been growing rapidly. Divorces is a legal action between married people that is on longer together. Over the last twenty-five years, several studies has indicated that divorce process may affect family characteristics and most especially children 's cognitive performance. Divorce changes children 's lives through parental emotion and behavior. Divorce may also increase the risk of negative outcomes for younger and older children. Children from infant and toddler are less likely to be affected by divorce because is a early development stage (Leon, 2003). The purpose of this study is to better understand how parental divorces affects a child 's development, how children transition from living with both parent or divorces single parent and also.studies, how divorce could influence a child 's behavior, emotions, a child academic and their future relationships. Between young children and older children who react or adjust more to parental divorce.My hypothesis is to see divorce effect a child 's cognitive, emotional and psychological aspect class or at home.
The scholarly article “The Long-Term Effects of Divorce on Children: A Review,” by Judith S. Wallerstein, explores various studies conducted by psychologists over a twenty year span, about the long term social and psychosocial difficulties experienced by children of divorce. The majority of the research for this particular topic discusses how the problems for these children began long before the actual separation of the parents, a theory that had not been previously researched in full until these studies. After reading the article, it is evident, that often the divorce itself is the last resort of the quarrelling parents. By waiting several years before finally breaking off the failed marriage the parents are unintentionally
Divorce is comparable to an epidemic since it has been filtering through many societies at an increasingly alarming rate. According to the most current statistic, there are more than 2.1 million marriages in the United States (“Children of Divorced Parents”). Out of those, almost half end in divorce. Divorce nowadays is extremely common. In fact, in America there is one divorce every thirty-six seconds (National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends”). Each year over a million American children suffer from the divorce of their parents (Amato 24-26). Even though it might be shown to benefit some individuals in their own personal case, for the majority it causes a decrease in an individual’s life and puts many people “on a downward trajectory from which they might never fully recover” (Amato). Over long term, the United States divorce rate has been on a rise since 1980, which means more children being affected (Macionis). These children that are affected are faced by emotions of anger, confusion and even fear. These emotions affect their academic performance, social interactions, behavior, self-esteem and other negative effects. This literature review is important in calling attention on the current research studying impacts of divorce on children. The topic of divorce is a wide-ranging topic. However, this particular literature review focuses only on the effects that divorce has on children. The data presented in this paper is collected from
According to the Encyclopedia of Psychology, one half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. With these one million children are affected each year. Eighty five percent of these children live in single parent households, with the mother being the head of the house. The father is usually distant or does not speak to the children at all. These children are highly affected and experience a great deal of emotional and academic problems. Especially when you compare them to children with non-divorced parents. During adolescence, these children have twice as high as a rate of dropping out of high school, having teenage pregnancy, and experiencing deliquiate behavior. I am not a child of divorce, but a child dear to me is. I have seen firsthand the emotional tear that it can play into a child’s life, and the way it affects a family. Divorce may cause children to grow up anxious and scared. Children may even ask themselves “why me?”, “what can I do?”, and “where should I go from here?”.
For couples with children divorce can wreak havoc on family relations. The behavior of children can change rapidly, in Cherlin (1993) it has been stated that, “children whose parents separated or divorced displayed more behavior problems and performed more poorly in school than children whose parents remained married” (para. 3). It is important to note that each child is affected differently and relationships with parents will not always be bitter (Cherlin, 1993). The personal source is a friend of many years whose parents divorced when she was very young. Her brother was also very young at the time of the divorce; each of them as male and female reacted differently to the divorce, just as it has been seen in many studies (Alex Pringle, Personal Communication, May 10,
In the United States alone, hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of families are affected by divorce each year. Divorce is a high-stress process which may affect parent’s abilities to provide for their children. Whether there is lack of support emotionally, mentally, financially, or physically; a child can be very critically damaged. A child is continuously developing mentally, emotionally, and academically. There are different stages of adolescence that cause different ages of children to react to divorce in several ways. Children put in these situations have higher risk of suffering academically, mentally, and emotionally. Issues relating to divorce can follow the effected party in to adulthood. They show different forms of behavioral change. The needs for every child can be met through simple changes in lifestyle if the persons involved educate themselves.
Children of divorce are far more likely to experience psychological difficulties, and these difficulties are likely to carry into adulthood. These children are faced with high rates of depression and anxiety, low self-esteem, and less satisfaction within their daily lives. In the novel “For Better Or for Worse”, expert of family dynamics Mavis Hetherington, reveals that “[t]wenty-five percent of youths from divorced families in comparison to 10 percent from non-divorced families did have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems.” They will also require more frequent use of mental health services than those with intact families. In the American Journal of Family Law, Doctor Sandford Portnoy investigates the psychological effects divorce has on offspring. “Girls from divorced families have, in some cases, been found to be significantly more depressed than girls from intact families, while boys are more hopeless and discouraged as the level of family distress increases.” These psychological difficulties will then accompany them into their adult relationships, where they will struggle with marital instability, satisfaction, conflict, and
In the Scientific American’s article “Is Divorce Bad for Children?” authors Hal Arkowitz and Scott Lilienfield discuss the short-term and long-term effects divorce has on a child’s well-being. The popular media article claims that children generally suffer negatively in the immediate aftermath of the separation but in the long run have few psychological differences from children of married parents as long as they continue to grow up in a stable environment. Short-term effects of divorce by examined by looking at the naturalistic observation of the University of Virginia. The study looks at children immediately post-divorce and see negative emotions like shock, anger, and confusion. However, the study also shows that these effects usually disappears
Lawton, L. E., & Bures, R. (2001). Parental Divorce and the "Switching" of Religious Identity. Journal For The Scientific Study Of Religion, 40(1), 99.
These include academic deterioration, antisocial and delinquent behaviors, anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression. Early promiscuity, relationship difficulties, and illicit drug use are also noted. Other studies correlate resiliency in adulthood as one product of living in a conflictual family system”(Rich et al., 2007 p.164). The effects of divorce vary depending on the situation and the child. “Hess and Camara found that many children of divorce suffer severe emotional consequences such as depression, anger, anxiety, and withdrawal, any of which, if prolonged, can have a negative impact on the child’s overall emotional development. It is also reported adjustment problems in the area of cognitive, emotional, and social development among children of divorce as well. In addition, parental separation has been found to be particularly stressful for adolescents”(Bornstein and Walters, 1988 p.248).