How a divorce affects children is one of the main concerns of parents considering or going through with a divorce.\u00a0\u00a0 Parents often worry that they will damage their children and negatively affect their children\u2019s functioning. \u00a0Will a divorce really cause negative consequences?\u00a0\u00a0 The answer to this question is complicated, and depends on different factors.\u00a0 Some of these factors are under the control of parents, while other factors are not.\u00a0 So lets take a look at how divorce affects children, and the factors that make adjustment to divorce more or less likely to happen.<\/p>\n
Some distress in children going through a divorce is normal and can be expected.\u00a0 Children tend to handle divorce in many different ways, and child reactions vary greatly according to a number of different factors.\u00a0 Researchers have looked into different risk factors for problems with child adjustment to divorce.\u00a0 They have found that child factors (i.e., a child\u2019s personality such as easy going or irritable), social factors (e.g., community support, the number of stressful life events), and family factors all relate to a child\u2019s level of adjustment following a divorce.\u00a0 Of all of these factors, a parent will usually have the most control over family factors. \u00a0These factors include the relationship between the parents, individual parent adjustment to divorce, and parenting practices.<\/p>\n
For younger children, the consequences of divorce may appear in different ways.\u00a0 Children can have a range of responses such as symptoms of depression and anxiety.\u00a0 Depression can manifest through sadness, and loss of interest in things a child used to enjoy.\u00a0 Also, changes in sleep and food intake can be signs of depression.\u00a0 Among younger children, physical symptoms of distress such as stomachaches may also occur. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Anxiety may be seen as an increase in clinging behavior and lack of self-confidence.<\/p>\n
Aside from an increase in symptoms of depression and anxiety, children of divorce also tend to be more aggressive and have more behavior problems when compared to peers who come from intact families.\u00a0 Children from divorced parents also tend to have more difficulties with relationships in general.\u00a0 The findings of an increase in aggression tend to be more so for boys than for girls.\u00a0 As a whole, children of divorce also tend to be more vulnerable to drug, alcohol, and cigarette use compared to same age peers not from divorced families.<\/p>\n
It is common for symptoms of distress to occur at different times through the divorce process.\u00a0 One of the most common things that parents see is an increase in distress across transitions between homes.\u00a0\u00a0 It can take children time to adjust to living across both homes.\u00a0 A child may protest leaving each household, and be upset when adjusting to each new transition.\u00a0 The adjustment typically takes longer if both parents have trouble getting along.\u00a0 For those parents that don\u2019t get along, the protests that a child has about leaving each parent\u2019s home, is often mistakenly used as grounds for the child living in one home.\u00a0 Even though transitions are difficult, joint physical custody arrangements are usually in the child\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n
Overall, academic performance also tends to be lower among children of divorce. It is thought that the differences between children from families of divorce versus intact families come from lack of supervision (leading to less homework completion and worse school attendance), and a parent\u2019s decreased confidence in child achievement.\u00a0 One large study found that the level of family conflict was related to negative academic outcomes.\u00a0 Another factor that can protect academic achievement is the continued involvement of the father.<\/p>\n