Longitusal Research Studies

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

Watching parents take a home from a traditional family lifestyle to a "broken" home by getting a divorce is very devastating to a child's mental well-being. As Judith Seltzer notes, "Recent reviews summarize evidence that children are emotionally

In the contrary, another longitudinal study took place across two decades with a cohort of preschoolers (4 years old) whose parents had been separated between 12-18 months. They were assessed again two years later (age 6) and then follow-ups occurred at 10, 16 and 24 years of age. The sample was expanded at each assessment and ended up including divorced, non-divorced and remarried individuals among 450 families. The most significant finding of the study was that 75% of the children were able to positively adjust between 2 – 6 years post divorce, while 25% still struggled with psychosocial problems for decades (Zimiles, 2004).

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

This paper looks at the effects of divorce on children based on the application of various psychological developmental theories. More specifically, children within the age groups of 4 to 6 and 7 to 11 will be taken into account. The theories explored and applied will include Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, Erikson’s psychosocial tasks, Bowlby’s attachment theory, Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, Bandura’s social learning theory and Vygotsky’s, and later Bronfenbrenner’s, ecological or developmental systems approach.

Wallerstein, J.S. (1991). The long-term effects of divorce on children: A review. Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 349-360. Web. 29 April 2016.

The likelihood of a person’s marriage ending in divorce presently stands at fifty-percent in the United States. As a consequence many children will go through the divorce process as well. What is important to note is that many children go through divorce before the age of six and this is very significant to their development. Most importantly from infancy through the early years of life (preschool years), children are working on forming secure attachments. There have not been many studies done about the impact of divorce on children younger than six years old. Only one study was found where child participants were aged 3 to 6 years (Nair, & Murray, 2005). The few that have found interesting results, discuss how divorce prior to the

The first three years of a child 's life are the most significant for growth and development, both mentally and physically. Young children perceive situations and events that occur in their environment differently depending on their developmental stage. Urie Bronfenbrenner is a psychologist that came up with the Ecological Systems Theory which is a modern theory of development. The Ecological Systems Theory was created into a model that has multiple system levels. The first level that directly impacts a child the most is called the microsystem and this system consists of family, peers, school, and health services. Divorce is being seen more often in society today and is happening earlier. Divorce can be very traumatic to a child even if the divorce was mutual and as peaceful as possible; imagine if it was a bad divorce? This puts stress and anxiety on young children and can affect their development. More and more studies are being conducted in the last thirty years showing the negative effects divorce has on young children. The more we find out exactly how and why it affects children so greatly we can come up with recommendations and strategies to help deal with it in a way that will not hinder the child 's development. This paper will connect the modern day developmental perspective with studies that have shown

Have you ever wondered how divorce affects children and their coping process when they only have one full-time parent? Divorce is a significant stressor for a child when growing up and it can cause certain mental health problems for them. Most often the child would stay with the mother and therefore making her the full time parent. Due to divorce, sometimes the way the child is disciplined or the quality of care changes for the child, therefore the child needs to cope with this new change. So the question is whether “intervention-induced changes in mother-child relationship quality and discipline led to short term and long term changes in children’s coping processes?” (Pg. 244, Velez, Wolchik, Tein, & Sandler, 2011) This question brought about

Dr. Hart wrote in his book, ?Helping Children Survive Divorce,? that ?Every divorced child is likely to be an angry [in a clinical sense] child.? He also wrote on page 77, that divorce is a major learning experience with far-reaching consequences in regard to the child?s personality, attitudes, behaviors, and abilities (Hart, 1996). It is important for parent?s to relinquish any self-serving attitudes understanding that they are not the only ones affected by the divorce. Modeling is one of the ways that children learn appropriate attitudes and social skills. There are methodologies to improve the resiliency of children of divorce.

A brief overview of the literature on the subject used for this report will display that many studies built upon each other and came to similar conclusions. Across all the studies it was established that divorce was normally the first very stressful event the children had to cope with, but it unfortunately also diminished the coping resources available to the child, which would help them take up a healthy coping strategy. Thus, the effect of coping in children of

According to Carl Pickhardt Ph.D in Surviving Your Child’s Adolescence “divorce tends to intensify a child’s dependence and accelerates their phases of development, from been preschool children to adolescents.” As mentioned above, it is important to remember that children need their parent’s support during their lives for them to be able to surpass every trial that it encounters difficulty. In agreement with Focus On The Family, children of all ages are affected when divorce splits a family, but different age groups can react in different ways. So much is different and unknown that their lives become filled with scary questions such as “What is going to happen next?” “Who will take care of me”. With one parent moving out, I can lose the

Children need intact families to flourish. It is hard to imagine that if the family is torn apart, a child can simply adjust to a new situation, home, step-parent, siblings, and entire change of life as they know it without suffering significant effects upon their mental health and development lacks. Despite voices that serve to minimize the effects of divorce on children, this paper will show that the negative effects upon their mental health and development are such that the best solution is to avoid divorce all together. According to Stinson and Jones, “well-being on the road to adulthood for both children and teens hinges on family relationships.”

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).

The emphasis on pathology and individual deficiency in local studies, it has been a transformation in focus toward resilience and family dynamics in western studies (Ahrons, 1994; Emery & Forehand, 1994; Hetherington & Mitchell, 2003; Kelly & Emery, 2003). Emery and Forehand (1994) pointed out that in the face of adversity adolescents somehow bounce back from divorce. However, it does not mean that their children are appreciating or happy of their parents’ divorce. They are also upset and distress. According to the amount of distress, most adolescents are also resilient. There is also a wide consensus that adolescents’ SE in post-divorce families is a multivariate phenomenon rather than a simple outcome of divorce (Amato, 1993; Etnery, 1999; Lengua, Wolchik, & Braver, 1995). There are both risk factors and resilience factors mediating the adolescents’ post-divorce SE (Amato, 1993, 2001; Emery & Forehand, 1994; Hetherington & Mitchell, 2003).