The Effects Of Divorce On Children

This research paper aims to provide an overview of some social science findings in relation to affects of divorce on children. Marital disruption and life in a one parent’s household are becoming progressively more common occurrence in the modern lives of parents and children. The early 60’s was the start of a significant wave of research conducted on the effects of divorce on children and its only expected that social sciences have had more contact in this area than any other. Through the process of a literature review this report attempts to analyze and understand concept of “best interests of the child" by examining studies that define and examine effects of divorce on children. The first section of this paper examines a range of key situational

However, by the fifth year following divorce, boys’ grades and achievement tests were adversely affected, while girls’ were not. Likewise, Hetherington et al. (1979) found that, directly following the divorce, boys and girls both showed some disruption in play situations; nevertheless, the effects appeared to be more constant in boys. Wallerstein (1985a), in a ten-year follow-up of children who were pre-schoolers at the time of divorce established that although there were no preliminary sex differences in the effects of divorce. 18 month after the divorce, many of the girls appeared improved, but boys were noticeably more troubled at school, in the playground and at home. 5 years after the divorce, these sex differences had again vanished. Guidubaldi and Perry (1985) found that boys in divorced familial homes presented more undesirable effects than girls, in terms of improper behavior, work effort, and happiness. Girls with divorced parents, on the other hand, showed elevated scores in locus of control than their

Even though early findings suggested that separation from a parent at an early age had more negative effects for children than for older youth, this factor has proven to be more complex than was originally believed. In a 10-year follow-up of pre-school children from divorced families, Wallerstein found the original response to divorce to be worse for younger children, but in later years they appeared better adjusted than their older counterparts (Wallerstein, 1984). She concluded that those who are very young at marital breakup may be less troubled in the years to come than those who are older. Correspondingly, Amato (1987) found that the greater part of children who were very young at the time of divorce reported that they were not strongly affected by the