Parental Divorce On Children

Divorce, a very controversial issue in today’s society, has glaring effects on society as well as individuals. Approximately half of all marriages will end in divorce, resulting in close to one million children per year struggling to deal with the aftermath (Fischer 2007). Parental divorce has been proven to have long-term negative effects on adult mental health (Chase-Lansdale, Cherlin Kiernan 1995). Divorce was at its highest rate in the early 1980s. The first group of children to be affected by these very high divorce rates entered adulthood in the 1990s allowing sociological research to begin on the adverse affects associated with divorce over the span of different ages. Until this time, a lot of research focused on short-term effects surrounding

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

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.

There are, undoubtedly, a number of causes for divorce. Divorce used to be considered scandalous and immoral. This contributed to many marriages surviving despite strains. However, as divorce becomes more common, the more natural and expectable it seems. The number of divorces per year per1000 people in the U.S. has been declining since hitting our highest point in1981. (“divorce_ rate”) The United States has one of the highest divorce rates in the world. As a, couple’s relationship, marriages are more

However, this is not the reality of our times. McConville (2013) states 41-50% of first marriages end in divorce in the United States. The affect the divorce has on the child is dictated by how the parents maneuver through the transition. Potter (2010) states that elementary and high school students both display poorer psychosocial well-being versus children from non-divorced families (pg. 933). Adolescents face many struggles and challenges throughout this developmental stage. Being a child of divorced parents can heighten stress and anxiety leading to depressive symptoms. To avoid and or decrease this instance, adolescents affected by divorce can benefit heavily through group counseling with others facing identical

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

The United States is identified to have one of the highest divorce rates in the world. The history of divorces are relatively a new phenomenon of America. The peaks and valleys in the divorce trend over time are often associated with world events or social movements.

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

In every school there are students who are affected by divorce in some way. Statistics show that about fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce (Kim, 2011). Whether a child is currently going through the strife of their parents’ divorce or have in the past there will be a varied of adverse effects that it has on a child’s wellbeing, growth, and academic performance. This provides a definite need for intervention and for many children, school is the only place where they can obtain counseling to address their emotional needs (Hoagwood, Burns, Kiser, Ringeisen & Schoenwald, 2011).

In recent decades the family institution has undergone a dramatic transformation focusing on increased divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families (Amato, 2000; Bumpass & Lu, 2000; Graefe & Lichter, 1999). Due to the increase of divorce rates children move more frequently and deal with additional family transitions throughout their childhood (Brown, 2006). As these changes slowly increase, about 40% of kids who are born to wedded, two-biological- parent families have a higher chance of parental divorce prior to reaching adulthood(Amato,2000). In addition, these children will likely experience a multitude of family disruptions and transitions as parents decide to remarry and progress with new partners. The family atmospheres during these times are incredibly detrimental to the growth and development of these children (Sun& Li, 2009). Research studies show that parental divorce can compromise educational success for their children. Children in two-parent families have noticeably higher test scores than children who are in single parent families and also had lower chances of graduating from high school (Sun & Li, 2001). One of the rationalizations for the academic difficulty in divorced

After a divorce, these adolescents experience the feeling of insecurity, and they have low esteem (Glenn & Kramer, 1985). In essence, the psychological being of those from happily married families is found to be higher as compared to that of young ones from divorced families. In addition to psychological effects, many studies have confirmed that there are long term effects. For example, adolescents from divorced families are likely to divorce when they grow to the age of becoming parents as related to those from intact families. Analysis of surveys have revealed several negative impacts that are long term on their psychological well-being, such things as: satisfaction, happiness and excitement during their adult developmental age (Glenn & Shelton,

The purpose of the quantitative research design is to show that divorce does affect children in their academic performance, causes negative socially development skills, and a change in image of self. The research is done by a questionnaire taking by teachers and their students at an elementary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The population for this questionnaire were African-American, Caucasian, Native American, Asia and others. This questionnaire was a random selection sampling based of which teachers agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire was used to prove that previous studies were accurate on the impact of divorce not only academically but socially and imaging. The research will prove that further investigation is needed for

As mentioned above, a child’s health can be affected by a divorce on an emotional, physical, and psychological viewpoint. Because of this, their functionality within school and play can be affected. A child who is in elementary school can become withdrawn and struggle to stay attentive in school. These children can also show aggression towards others because of the defeat and anger about the divorce. If these children encounter such physical side effects, he or she can start to miss more school and fall behind in school activities as well (Benedek and Brown 1995). Studies also report that parents of divorce have lower educational expectations of their children. This is due in part to the parent being distracted by the divorce and establishing his or her own life and managing it without spousal support as before. The parent may become less involved in monitoring the schoolwork to be completed by the child or mistaken that the other parent has taken on this role. The overall supervision of school and social activities can be compromised of those children who are products of divorce (Rodriguez and Arnold 1998).

People in America are determined to get married and live together. Married couples want to share everything and depend on each other. However, fifty percent of these couples cannot seem to fulfill their marriage vows. As a result, they choose to get a divorce. Divorce is very easy to do nowadays unlike the past. Statistics show that the four main causes of divorce are: financial difficulty, women are more independent, infidelity, and couples are getting married at a young age.

Another potential impact of divorce on children can be seen through their development. The article, Consequences of Parental Divorce for Child Development, by H. Kim (2011) reviews the impact of divorce on children’s development. This study compares children before and after divorce to measure the implications towards development. This study found that children had setbacks in test scores, interpersonal skills, were more likely to internalize behaviour (Kim, 2011). This study did not find any external behaviour issues or reduced reading capability (Kim, 2011). This information demonstrates the divorce issues can impact their learning abilities, which is something crucial to everyday life. The developmental impacts can coincide with future learning abilities and academic achievement in some children dealing with parental divorce.