--Original published at HarrysCollegeBlog

Divorce, as tragic as it is, is getting more and more common in the US as of late, with half of all marriages being Divorced. This is not only tragic for the 2 parties involved, but for the children as well. Children watching their parents fight over divorce can be a traumatic event in their life, especially at younger ages. Suffering a great deal of pain at such a young age can greatly affect how the child grows, and most often in a negative way. They often spend a great deal of time trying to find out how to deal with their parents’ divorce, or feel powerless to stop it as it happens.

Children of different age groups act differently to divorce, as some don’t have the brain capacity to know whats going on, but still recognize there is loss. Infants and toddlers, for example “may not understand what is happening but recognize that they are experiencing a loss (Keenan).” they tend to feel anger at their parents and will throw temper tantrums and cry to get them to stay. Others such as Teenagers become more distant from family, or even try to reunite their broken family.

Regardless of age, however, all children are affected by divorce, and go through a lot of anxiety pain and loneliness. The only positive that can be brought out of divorce is when the divorced couple are using violence, and the children see divorce as a way to get out of such violence. but more often than not, divorce is terrible for children, and there is no “good” way out, only suffering and pain. a study recently done based of a refusal of contact scale done on children of divorce showed that divorce has negative results, but can vary depending on the child’s refusal rate.  Overall, Children are better off not experiencing divorce, but if relations between parents result in violence, the divorce’s negative effect can be lessened.

Sources:

Keenan, M. “Children of Divorced Parents.” Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health, 2014. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.etown.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=98402248&site=eds-live.

Huff, Scott C, et al. “Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Children’s Contact Refusal of Parents Following Divorce.” American Journal of Family Therapy, vol. 45, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 66–77. Consumer Health Complete on EBSCOhost, EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/01926187.2016.1275066. Accessed 8 Oct. 2018.

--Original published at Manami PSY105blog

People may believe that divorce is harmful to children and influences on children’s future. Although the understanding of divorce is increasing, there is still the tendency that children without separation from parents are happier than children with experiences of parent’s divorce. There are two sides of arguments about the effects of divorce on children. One side of the arguments is supporting that divorce influence on children’s behavior, mental issues, and academic ability. On the other side, there are two arguments say that divorce is not bad for children because they will be able to deal with the situation children face.

According to the article titled “The Psychological Effects of Divorce on Children”, Amy Morin explains there are emotional difficulties which children might struggle after their parents divorced. She says 48 percent of children in the USA and UK experienced parent’s divorce by age 16 and live with single-parent. Even though these children seem to get over the tough time, some of them continue to have difficulties in changes. For example, children may be confused when they must go between two hoses and worry about losing love from their parents someday. They also may blame on themselves about their parent’s divorce and feel anger to change situations and lifestyle such as a new hose and school. It is not easy to adjust to the new lifestyle. If children had a step-parents and step-siblings, they would receive a stress. In addition, children likely to have a mental issue and behavior problem caused by a parent’s divorce. Especially, adolescents with parent’s divorce may take a risk in terms of sexual activities, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. The author also suggests that people with parent’s divorce may tend to divorce when they had a family. There are several negative effects on children because of parent’s divorce.

Mitchell Kalpakgian also discusses negative effects on children regarding education in his article. First, parent’s conflict at home reduces academic achievement by interrupting their concentration on the study caused by their emotional insecurity and instability like anxiety and anger. They do not have an environment where is quiet and they can be relaxed to study in the house with conflicts. Second, children tend to not to join school activity including the study because sadness from divorce deprives energy, excitement, and enthusiasm from children. Third, he insists that children with parent’s divorce tend to lose motivation of attendance and school because they may not be able to get a clear sense of expectation from two parent’s same ideas values of education by adjusting two different families. They may have an attitude of nothing matters like “Who Cares?”. It is important to care children’s emotional changes caused by parent’s divorce to support their academic achievement.

The article titled “Is Divorce Bad for Children?”, by Hal Arkowitz and Scotto O. Lilienfeld, suggests that children recover rapidly after their parent’s divorce especially emotional negative effects. According to the examination at Pennsylvania State University in the article says that there are only small differences between children of divorced parents and children without the experience of parent’s divorce regarding “academic achievement, emotional and behavior problems, delinquency, self-concept, and social relationships.” (Hal, A and Scotto O. L, P3). Besides this, children’s anxiety or the stress of divorce can be reduced by love and stability from parents. The authors also claim that the rate of social, physical and emotional issues of children with divorced parents is only 15 percent higher than the one of children with both of parents. There is even a possibility this difference is caused by other issues such as poor parenting. In addition, it is important for children that parents give warm and love to their after they divorced and support their children emotionally and socially. Children’s personality and characteristic also influence to recover well.

Victoria Clayton supports the idea that divorce is not only bad for children and children will do well. Especially, even if parents divorced, they are still parents who love their children, and should work together as “co-parents.” It gives good consequences for both parents and children to decide separations because parents will be able to appreciate and respect each other by separating, and children still do well thanks to parent’s strong corporation.

I agree with the idea that children can get over parent’s divorce even though they are hurt emotionally. Because they will be able to receive love from both of parents in a little different way from the others. They can do well depends on how divorced parents corporate each other and how they raise their children. My parents have separated since I was in elemental school, and they divorced. I found out the differences from my friends with both parents. However, I have never felt jealousy to them because I am satisfied with their decision and love from them. I could do well because they did well. Even if it depends on children’s characteristic whether they will recover soon, parents could help them.

References

Morin A. (August 24,2018). The Psychological Effects of Divorce on Children. Retrieved from https://www.verywellfamily.com/psychological-effects-of-divorce-on-kids-4140170

Kalpakgian M. (February,20,2015). Divorce’s Effect on a Child’s Education. Retrieved from http://truthandcharityforum.org/divorces-effect-on-a-childs-education/

Arkowitz H, Lilienfeld S O. (March,1,2013)Is Divorce Bad for Children? Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-divorce-bad-for-children/

Clayton V. (12,11,2007). Divorce doesn’t have to destroy the kids. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21474430/ns/health-childrens_health/t/divorce-doesnt-have-destroy-kids/#.W7q21S_jZ-U

#spotlight #Development

--Original published at Bailey PSY 105 Blog

It is not divorce as an act that damages children, it is the toxic environment that is created when two parents no longer love or respect one another. At the same time, one child’s experience with having divorced parents is not going to be the same as the next, as every couple get divorced for different reasons, at different times, and with varying levels of maturity and tact. Regardless of whether or not it was the act of divorce that triggered the child’s emotional trauma, divorce is caused, amplified, and exaggerated by the parents.

This source argues that divorce is the worst thing you can do to a child and that divorce can be lethal to a developing child’s psyche and mental processing. The article cites The Longevity Project as cause for this argument, claiming that divorced children have a shorter lifespan by five years than children of families that are together. This article also states that children never recover from this trauma they endure from divorce, and that that trauma is comparable to an earthquake destroying one’s home. Another point the author makes is that boys coming from broken homes have difficulty managing their anger and aggression and will have trust issues their entire lives. Girls with divorced parents are hypothesized to have problems with self-esteem and intimacy, and also develop trust issues that they will carry with them throughout their lives. The final point that this article makes is that divorce is more damaging to a child than the death of a parent, because when a parent dies the child loses hope of ever having a whole family. With divorce, the child retains the fantasy that their parents will one day reconcile and come back together. Allan Bloom was an American philosopher, classicist and academician. He was a very credible man that taught at Cornell University, University of Toronto, and Yale University. The website this article was published on his site and under his name, so it leads the reader to believe that the article is written by someone educated and informed. I don’t think this article is correct, because I believe that two happy homes are far healthier that one disjointed family. Divorce can surely be damaging to a child if not handled in the right way but living in an unhappy or unhealthy home can be far worse.

In this article written by Jann Gumbiner, the author uses personal anecdotes and experience to detail the damaging effects of divorce on children. She claims that there is no such thing as an intelligent divorce; divorce is bad, plain and simple. The touches on the blame children place on themselves when parents get divorced and how they lose motivation and direction and quickly become ashamed of their family. She also argues that children with divorced parents see divorce as more of an option in their own marriages and are less likely to stick it out and work for a happy marriage. The article was written by a woman who was a child of divorce as well as a psychologist with a self-proclaimed ‘excellent education.’ It is also published on Psychology Today, which is a fairly reputable publication where psychologists with different specialties and backgrounds come together to share their insights and research. One problem I have with the way that this article was written is how much the author bases her findings off of her own personal experiences with divorce. I don’t think that this article is correct either. The author pulls far too much from her personal experience growing up in a broken home and uses little to no evidence aside from her own life to back her claims.

This article, written by Susan Pease Gadoua, argues that children are not damaged because of the act of divorce, they are damaged because of parental fighting and inconsistencies within their home life. She believes you can’t measure if divorce hurts children, because there is no way to compare the outcome of a family that gets divorced with a secondary outcome of the same exact family in a world where the parents stay together. She backs this with an argument that families differ by age of children, socio economic status, culture, degree of tension in the home, etc. Ms. Gadoua believes that divorce can provide relief for children because they do not have to endure the parents fighting any longer. This article is written by an author of multiple books on divorce, as well as a licensed therapist specializing in marriage and divorce. Like the previous article, this article is published on Psychology Today, which is a decently reputable source. I agree completely with this author’s point of view. She recognizes that an unhealthy home can be psychologically and physically damaging to children, and how divorce is sometimes the only option to keep parents and kids alike happy and healthy.

The final article I have chosen is written by Rachael Rettner. She too believes the idea of ‘staying together for the kids can do more harm than good and can be very harmful to children of any age. She believes children of parents who fight a lot yet stay married experience more conflict in their own adult relationships than children who do fight and get divorced. Rettner acknowledges the research that children who come from divorced families are more likely to be divorced, but questions whether or not this is due to the divorce itself or the fighting and drama that went on in the home leading up to the divorce. In her own words, “Constant exposure to their parent’s strife is likely what causes children’s future relationships to suffer.” Rachael Rettner is a health science writer for the website Live Science. Live Science is a science news website typically coordinated with major news outlets like Yahoo!, MSNBC, AOL, and Fox News. This source seems credible because it only publishes articles written by writers employed by the news source, so it does not receive or publish pieces written by nonprofessional writers. This specific author also has a degree in health sciences, making her specifically a credible source. I highly agree with all of the claims thus author makes. I appreciate that she acknowledges the evidence presented by the other side of the argument yet contrasts it with her own opinion and background.

Through my own personal experience as well as the claims made by the authors in the articles, I believe that divorce is not inherently harmful to children and they can come out the other side. I don’t believe that divorce as an act is what leads to the mental harm we see in children later on, but that it is the parent’s fighting and lack of respect for one another that hurts their kids.

Citations:

Bloom, Allan. “Divorce Always Harms Children.” Allan Bloom PhD and Associates. 6 Oct. h      2018.

Divorce Hurts Children, Even Grown Ones. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-   children-even-grown-ones

Divorce Doesn’t Harm Children – Parents Fighting Harms Child. (n.d.). Retrieved from            https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/contemplating-divorce/200911/divorce-          doesnt-harm-children-parents-fighting-harms-child

Divorce Doesn’t Harm Children – Parents Fighting Harms Child. (n.d.). Retrieved from             https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/contemplating-divorce/200911/divorce-          doesnt-harm-children-parents-fighting-harms-child

Psychology Today-Jann Gumbiner

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-children-even-grown-ones

Psychology Today- Susan Pease Gadoua

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/contemplating-divorce/200911/divorce-doesnt-harm-children-parents-fighting-harms-child

--Original published at Wolfman Productions

“Many couples who know their marriage is over will actually put off a divorce because they believe that it is better for the children if they stay together.” (Leamon). After reading over this statement and thinking about it, it makes sense that a couple could do this, but in many cases it’s the exact opposite. Divorces are mostly seen as negative events, but I believe that these events are positive more than negative.

Divorce can be seen as positive or negative depending on the information you’re seeking. A negative effect that takes place is that the children spend less time with each parent. No matter how the couples decided the time their child spends with each of them, the child is still losing time with both parents. Sam Bone from divorcemag.com explains this point by saying “Every minute that your spouse spends with your child is a minute that you will not get to spend with your child. Whether we like it or not, it is a zero-sum game. Regardless of whether you receive every other weekend, week-on week-off, your spouse receives every other weekend, or whatever arrangement you may have, it will be less than you had before.” (Bone). Sam also brings in a positive point about his by saying that if one spouse get their child during the weekend you don’t have them, that spouse can take that time to recharge their batteries and collect their thoughts so they’re ready the next time they have their child. Both parents could also come together for some events like holidays and birthdays so the child can see both parents together.

The site divorcemag.com gives people who need support with divorce. You can look for lawyers, mediators, and other information the couples might need who are going through this dilemma. Sam is also a creditable source for this information because he’s a lawyer who practices in the areas of divorce, custody, and criminal defense and he was also selected as one of the top 40 lawyers under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers Association in 2015. He’s has experience with this department and should be seen as creditable with this information.

The children could also feel insecure about certain things because of the divorce. Reinier Bloem from children-and-divorce.com states that “They do not understand the divorce very well. All they know is that everything will be different.” (Bloem). The children could also have many questions about this like will I be able to see my friends, did I contribute to the divorce, and will I live with my brothers and sisters in the future or will they live with the other parent? These could make the children gain more stress because like Bloem said, the children don’t fully understand the divorce and could make it seem like they caused the divorce. Aside from bring up the negative effects, Bloem also lists ways to lessen the blow the children could take. If the parents present a clear picture to the child of their future and do it proper and quick, the child could calm down and understand the situation better.

The site children-and-divorce.com can be used as a good source for information. It give the user of the site information like divorce statistics, explaining joint and child custody, and going into the psychology of the entire matter.

There are still more questions that parents who go through divorce and don’t have an idea what’s going to happen. Neil Farber from psychologytoday.com lists questions that parents ask about divorce, but the one I want to look at is “Is my child going to go through this alone? How common is divorce for children?” (Farber). The answer that Farber has to this question is as follows, “It is estimated that between 30-50% of children will experience parental divorce before they turn 18. So, it is likely that your child will know many children who either have gone, or are going through, a similar situation.” This is something to think about if you’re a parent who knows a child that’s going through this, or a parent who is going through divorce and want to makes sure their child understands what’s happening. When the question asks if their child has to go through this alone, Farber’s article answers this question, but Shawn Leamon from divorceandyourmoney.com offers more insight to this answer. Leamon says that divorces can lead to better relationships for the parents. Leamon says “Once you have released yourself from the confines of an unhappy marriage, you open yourself up to the possibility for a better mate.” (Leamon) This mainly talks about the parents, but the child can also make a stronger connection to the new parent their father/mother ends up finding. Leamon brings up a great point of how the children can see how making a new relationship is better after a divorce. He states ” Your children watch and learn from the decisions you make. They will see how ending a bad relationship and finding one that is healthier and better for you is worth it in the long run.” (Leamon) This is a great lesson to learn for the children. If they can see how the relationship isn’t right for them and can leave it before it gets worse, then they can improve their life by finding a new partner.

Psychologytoday.com offers a service that finds a therapist to help you with any issues that you need helped with. The author, Neil Farber, is creditable because he has BS degree with honors in Psychology and completed dual Doctorate degrees in Research and Medicine. Farber is also a certified life coach, personal trainer and hypnotherapist. Shawn Leamon is the host of the “Divorce and Your Money Podcast and has a MBA while being a part of the CDFA. The site divorceandyourmoney.com gives the user different things to ponder regarding the topic of divorce. The podcast is where to find the most information, but you can look through the blog posts to find the full transcripts of each episode.

With the information present, I can see that divorce can have negative effects on children, but there are also positive effects as well. The children may face stress and struggle with questions regarding the divorce itself, but with help from the parents these worries can lessen and the child can understand why all this happened and won’t end up blaming themselves for the reason their parents separated. With some couples these problems may not appear, but they still need to make sure their children understand why these events happened and to make sure they aren’t to blame for it all. With all this the children will be able to learn from this and make their own life better because of it.

Sources

Bloem, Reinier. “Children Negative Effects of Divorce.” Children and Divorce: Information, Tips and Real Life Stories for Divorced Parents., 2018, http://www.children-and-divorce.com/children-negative-effects-of-divorce.html.

Bone, Sam. “3 Negative Effects Divorce Can Have on Children.” Divorce Magazine, 18 Dec. 2017, http://www.divorcemag.com/articles/3-negative-effects-divorce-can-have-on-children/.

Farber , Neil. “Enhancing Positive Outcomes for Children of Divorce.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 30 Mar. 2018, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-blame-game/201803/enhancing-positive-outcomes-children-divorce.

Leamon, Shawn. “Potential Positive Effects of Divorce on Children (It May Not All Be Bad News…).” Divorce and Your Money, Divorce and Your Money, 26 Nov. 2017, divorceandyourmoney.com/blogs/positive-effects-of-divorce-on-children/.

--Original published at Tyler's Ideas

Divorce or, the legal dissolution of a marriage, is primarily seen as negative when it comes to children and the effects on them. As divorce becomes more and more prevalent in the United States, the number of children affected by this has increased greatly. There are a number of people who believe all the effects on children are negative and the child will greatly be harmed when going through a divorce. Others, however, believe a child may escape, harm free, or maybe even with some life skills, those without divorced parents, may not have.

Negatively, both authors, Sam Bone and Jayna Solinger, believe a child’s time spent with each parent is greatly affected by divorce. Jayna Solinger, in “The Negative Effects of Divorce on Children”, uses facts and statistics, that are cited at the end of her writing, to support her argument about the negative effects in order to appeal to the ethos of the audience and prove its credibility. Sam Bone, author of “3 Negative Effects Divorce Can Have on Children” creates a sense of credibility through his profession of being a lawyer in the area of divorce. Both authors use statistics and evidence-based facts to support their claims. Although some may believe divorce can be nothing but harmful, other have shown that divorce is not always a bad thing.

The aspects of divorce that were negative were definitely harder to find making the articles that were found, not as credible as those of the negative side. Aside from this, Grant W. Mohi uses surveys and interviews to assess the impact of divorce on a young adults ability to form and maintain romantic relationships in “Positive Outcomes of Divorce: A Multi-Method Study on the Effects of Parental Divorce on Children.” This is a good way to asses and collect information and supplies good support for the claims made within the writing. Shawn Leamon’s, “Potential Positive Effects of Divorce on Children (It may not all be bad news…)” however does not have the support or evidence within his writing. Leamon’s credibility shows throw in his credentials of having an MBA and being the host of a #1 podcast. Although this may create a sense of ethos for the audience, statements made such as “children learn self-worth,” are not backed but by actual evidence, rather simple statements. Based on the information found, I believe there is a greater negative affect on children, rather than positive.

Through the research I conducted, I struggled when it came to find the information about what may not be so bad about divorce. I could not find factual studies that were backed up by support and experiments or a writing that was credible. The lack of credibility for a writing, lacks ethos, therefore making the writing feel as though it is not reliable. This was not true about the negative effects however. Each article I found had good hard evidence and explained a solid study within. Because of this reason I have to side with the negative effects of divorce on children.

Bone, Sam. “3 Negative Effects Divorce Can Have on Children.” Divorce Magazine, 8 Dec. 2017, www.divorcemag.com/articles/3-negative-effects-divorce-can-have-on-children/.

Leamon, Shawn. “Potential Positive Effects of Divorce on Children (It May Not All Be Bad News…).” Divorce and Your Money, Divorce and Your Money, 26 Nov. 2017, divorceandyourmoney.com/blogs/positive-effects-of-divorce-on-children/.

Mohi, Grant W. “Positive Outcomes of Divorce: A Multi-Method Study on the Effects of Parental Divorce on Children .” URJ, 22 Sept. 2015, urj.ucf.edu/docs/mohi.pdf .

Solinger, Jayna. “The Effects of Divorce on Children.” ISU Public Homepage Server, http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rhetoric/105H16/cova/jlscova.html.

--Original published at Isabella's Psychology Blog

Isabella Panzica

October 8, 2018

Spotlight Post 1

A child’s life revolves around their parents and their parents’ decisions. Divorce can disrupt a child’s life because it affects the parents and the parent’s decisions. A divorce is when two married people legally terminate their marriage to separate from each other. Divorce also includes the division of the couple’s assets, possessions, and custody of children. Unlike many things, children cannot be divided, so designated times are assigned for each parent to spend with the children. As divorce rates are increasing one question is continuously brought up. Is divorce harmful to children?

The peer-reviewed article “The Impact of Family Structure on the Health of Children: Effect of Divorce” was written by Dr. Jane Anderson argues divorce is harmful to children. Dr. Jane Anderson works for the University of California as a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and is a board member of the American College of Pediatricians. In Dr. Anderson’s article, she used fifty-five databases, research studies, articles from scientific journals to evaluate the current understanding of how divorce affects children, parents, and society. Divorce’s effects on children are broken down into eight points. Each point is then supported by at least three different sources. The first three points of the article are the child losses time with each parent, economic security, and emotional security. The next points are that children change their view on sexual behavior, loss of religious faith or practice, and loss of cognitive stimulation. Then the final two points of the article were children have larger risks of emotional distress and are less healthy. (Anderson)

The second source arguing divorce is harmful to children is a journal article from the American Sociological review “Consequences of Parental Divorce for Child Development” written by Hyun Sik Kim. This article was presented at the Population Association of America 2010 meeting and received positive feedback. In the article, Hyun Kim researched the different effects kids experienced in testing before, during, and post-divorce. Children scored lower on academic tests during and post-divorce, decreased in interpersonal skills during and post-divorce, and increased in internalizing behavior post-divorce. These results show that divorce negatively affects the children of divorce. (Kim)

The research study “Feeling Caught Between Parents: Adult Children’s Relations With Parents and Subjective Well‐Being” results support the argument that divorce is not harmful to children. This study took place in 2006 and authored by Paul R. Amato from Pennsylvania State University. In this study 632 young adults whom all had various parental marital situations filled out a three-question survey about their relationships with their parents. The parental marital situations were categorized as married low-conflict, married high-conflict, and divorced. Results of this study show children of divorced parents were the least drawn into parental disputes and least likely to favor one parent over the other. Divorced children were shown to have parents compete for affection for frequently than the other parental marital categories. The results of this study show that children of divorce are positively affected by divorce when it comes to parental relationships. This study is also credible since it had a large sample population for each category, was peer-reviewed, and was done through a credible organization. (Amato)

The results of the peer-reviewed research study “Adult Children’s Relationships With Married Parents, Divorced Parents, and Stepparents: Biology, Marriage, or Residence?” shows divorce is not harmful to children. The study is credible since it had over a thousand research participants and the author of this research study was Kalmijn Matthijs who is affiliated with the University of Amsterdam. Results of the study are that positive adult-child relationships are positively correlated with time spent together during childhood. So as long as the parents are active members of the child’s life, there should be no problems in the child’s relationships with the parents. (Kalmijn)

Based on my research, I agree with the stance that divorce is harmful to children. The sources which supported divorce being non-harmful mainly focus on the relationship between the child and the parent and nothing about the child’s development. Then finding the sources was hard to find too. Though when it came to finding sources about the harmful effects of divorce on children, there were hundreds of credible peer-reviewed articles and studies. For example, in just the article “The Impact of Family Structure on the Health of Children: Effect of Divorce” it had fifty-five relevant sources backing it up.

Citations

Amato, P. R. and Afifi, T. D. (2006), Feeling Caught Between Parents: Adult Children’s Relations With Parents and Subjective Well‐Being. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68: 222-235. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00243.x

Anderson, Jane. “The Impact of Family Structure on the Health of Children: Effects of Divorce.” The Linacre Quarterly 81.4 (2014): 378–387. PMC. Web. 8 Oct. 2018.

Kalmijn, Matthijs. “Adult Childrens Relationships With Married Parents, Divorced Parents, and Stepparents: Biology, Marriage, or Residence?” Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 75, no. 5, Mar. 2013, pp. 1181–1193. Quicksearch, doi:10.1111/jomf.12057.

Kim, Hyun Sik. “Consequences of Parental Divorce for Child Development.” American Sociological Review, vol. 76, no. 3, Mar. 2011, pp. 487–511. Quicksearch, doi:10.1177/0003122411407748.

--Original published at Psychology 105

As rates of divorce have risen in the US, so has the amount of research on the effects of divorce on families and children. When it first became a hot issue in the 1970s, it seemed that the consensus was that it was detrimental for children to experience a divorce. Some more modern research echoes this conclusion. An article published on focusonthefamily.org claims that divorce inevitably causes children to suffer. It says that children who experience divorce have a greater risk of suffering financially and academically, as well as an increased risk of being incarcerated or engaging in alcohol or drug use. Additionally, the article states divorce causes psychological distress that can affect a child for decades after it occurs. Each of these claims is specifically cited by different studies and journals, which leads me to believe it is a credible article overall. Another article, published by Divorce Source, Inc., explicitly claims that divorce is a traumatizing experience for children. Unlike the first article, which seemed more concerned with overall risks associated with divorce, this source focuses more on explaining how divorce can disrupt order in a child’s life and cause them to question their own security and stability. It claims that there are certain “uncontrollable bad effects” that families experience such as financial instability and issues associated with relocating and adjusting to a new environment. It also details some potential difficulties like losing friends and family, difficulties with holidays and birthdays, and dealing with a new step-family.

Alternative research shows divorce often does have negative effects on children; however, these effects are often short term. An article on children-and-divorce.com states several negative outcomes of divorce that have been widely observed through research including sadness, anger, insecurity, and behavioral problems. It concludes, however, over time children learn to cope with the situation and overcome these effects as they mature. Overall, it says research shows that good parenting is more important than being raised in a traditional family structure. This source, as well as the second one that I included, are both websites that provide information to individuals who are considering or going through a divorce. I believe that they both seem relatively unbiased and they cite specific claims with other research or sources which is why I chose to include them as credible sources. The last article I will include also claims that over time children are able to adjust to divorce. The article, from scientificamerican.com says that only a small number of children experience issues after divorce and into adulthood. It cites a study that found the short-term effects of divorce, including anger, anxiety, and shock, diminish after only two years. It also references other research which concluded that most children who experience divorce become well-adjusted adults. The supporting research came from scholarly studies and the article itself was written by two professors of psychology, which is why I chose it as a credible source.

Overall, I personally believe that children can come out of a divorce without serious consequences. Divorce can lead to instability; however, I think after the initial shock children can learn to adjust to their new lives. My second source said, “the most important factor in a divorce is how a parent handles a divorce.” I think this is very important to consider, and why it is difficult to predict what the exact outcomes of a divorce on a child will be. My third source also mentioned an interesting point which was that there may be a causal relationship between how socially acceptable divorce is and how dramatic the outcomes of divorce are for children.  It seemed like in the 1970s, when divorce was nearly considered taboo, the outcomes of divorce were far more dramatic. Today, however, the outcomes seem much less negative, and this may be because divorce is viewed much less negatively overall.

Sources

Arkowitz, Hal. “Is Divorce Bad for Children?” Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2013, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-divorce-bad-for-children/.

“How Could Divorce Affect My Kids?” Focus on the Family, 1 Jan. 2006, http://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/divorce-and-infidelity/should-i-get-a-divorce/how-could-divorce-affect-my-kids.

--Original published at Site Title

Growing up I’ve had the privilege of having both of my parents together under one roof, however I have always had friends that grew up with divorced parents and have wondered how different my life would be if my parents were divorced. After doing some research I might have found an answer to my curiosity.

Although there are many differences from child to child and family to family, divorce can have some pretty negative effects on children. An article from American College of Pediatricians really gave me some insight on these effects ranging from emotional security to psychological maturation.  For starters, in a divorced family, the child will tend to spend less time with either parents whether its due to custodial arrangements or the fact that the mother/father may need to work more hours in order to keep up with a single income lifestyle. The lack of time being spent with parents can lead to weakened relationships between child and parent and leave the child without emotional support. This can be especially harmful depending on the age of the child. This separation can result in less language stimulation and lead to the children doing worse in school and receiving lower GPAs compared to children whose parents are still together. Divorce can also have very negative effects on a child’s physical and mental health according to an article from Marripedia. Physically, there is a substantial increase in injuries linked to divorce as well as an increased risk of asthma, or an asthma related emergency. Mentally and emotionally, children from divorced families tend to suffer from depression, anxiety, lower self-esteem, and see themselves as fault for their parent’s separation. From this article it appears that divorce can be most harmful to children between ages 12-15 as they attempt to speed up adolescence, and in that case you see early sexual activity and the abuse of drugs and alcohol. I found both of these sources to be credible since they both were .org, and not .com. They also both have a long list of references at the end of the article that come from various academic journals and studies from different universities that add to their credibility.

On the other side of things, divorce is not always that harmful long term to the children involved. An article from the Scientific American states that some of the effects of divorce such as anxiety and anger are short term and seem to disappear after the second year. A quantitative study done at the Pennsylvania State University followed children with married parents and then those who suffered through a divorce at different ages and compared their academic achievement, emotional and behavior problems, delinquency, self-concept and social relationships. The study showed very few differences between the two groups leaving the only conclusion that could be made was the majority of children handle divorce pretty well.   There is no doubt that divorce can cause difficulty in one’s life, and seem like the end of the world when it happens, but in the long run it is usually in the best interest of the family. It is not healthy for a child to grow up in an environment where the parents are constantly fighting and yelling at each other and  a child can really benefit from being in a household with one fully, well-functioning supportive parent. There are several benefits that can come from divorce as well. These benefits include children becoming more resilient and adaptable, they become more self sufficient, they develop a greater sense of empathy towards others, they are more conscientious when choosing their own spouse later in life, and they tend to learn more through quality time with their each parent individually. I found both of these sources to be credible because they both reference doctors and studies done to make their claims.

Based on my reading I’d have to say that children can in fact come through divorce without serious consequences. Divorce is such a common thing today that so many children go through and if it caused that much of an issue it would be talked about more. I also have many friends that have divorced parents, even my mom’s parents got divorced when she was a child, but they all have turned out fine and have been successful. If effects from divorce last long term, such as depression, there might be a greater cause of that and it cannot be blamed fully on the divorce.

https://www.canadianliving.com/life-and-relationships/relationships/article/5-positive-lessons-children-learn-from-divorce

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-divorce-bad-for-children/#

http://marripedia.org/effects_of_divorce_on_children_s_healthhttps://www.acpeds.org/the-impact-of-family-structure-on-the-health-of-children-effects-of-divorce

https://www.acpeds.org/the-impact-of-family-structure-on-the-health-of-children-effects-of-divorce

--Original published at David's Blog

For the first spot light blog post I decided to choose the first option which was on divorce and how it effects children. This topic interest me the most because I wanted to find out if it’s almost always guaranteed to have negative effects on children or little or no effect at all.

“Many divorced spouses are in and out of court all of the time. Family lawyers are fond of saying ‘litigation is recreation for divorced parents.’ There are ugly e-mails, violent phone calls, and frequent trips to family court.” told by Dr. Jann Gumbiner from Phycology Today. This is definitely  never good for the kids. In most situations, children who hear or see violent or inappropriate tendencies from their parents, are then more likely to repeat or imitate the actions of their parents.

“The experience of divorce can also create problems that do not appear until the late teenage years or adulthood.” wrote Hal Arkowitz from Scientific American. This article goes on to talk about the major impact on kids. The most common problem for children in divorce situations is  depression.

Both these articles lay out a clear underline how divorce majorly impacts the kids physiologically. One of the sources was written by a doctor and the other was published on a scientific site. So I believe the article brings up serious matters and are very precedent. This definitely sways me more towards divorce being bad for kids but we will take a look at the other side.

“Children who grew up in high conflict families fared better in their adult relationships if their parents got a divorce.” stated Rachael Rettner of Live Science. I myself have seen this put to practice, when you have parents who constantly fight and argue it greatly i’m pacts the kids. But if the parents split early and fight less the children can develop more properly. With better development comes better adult relationships like stated in the article.

“Staying for the children can seem like ‘the only right thing to do,’ but it is not in all cases.” told by Susan P. Gadoua of Psychology Today. There are too many times when parents believe its the best to stay together for the kids but it only tares the family further and further apart. You can still be a “family” even though your not all together it’s just a different type of family.

These articles manly stress how its actually better to be divorced if you are not in a happy or stable relationship. In the end its the kids who should matter the most not your own personal feelings. Both the articles were written on scientific websites the provide a lot more information about divorce.

To conclude this blog post I will decided on which side I personally think is right. I have gone over these articles and tried to look at both sides to determine the best answer and I have even used my own personal findings in this matter. The side I would go with would be that divorce doesn’t have much effect on the kids. I’m only going with this side by taking in the factor the parents handle it correctly, if this can be achieved children will be less likely to develop physiological problems later in life.

• Arkowitz, Hal. “Is Divorce Bad for Children?” Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2013, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-divorce-bad-for-children/.
• Gadoua, Susan. “Divorce Doesn’t Harm Children – Parents Fighting Harms Child.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 Nov. 2009, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/contemplating-divorce/200911/divorce-doesnt-harm-children-parents-fighting-harms-child.

• Gumbiner, Jann. “Divorce Hurts Children, Even Grown Ones.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-children-even-grown-ones.
• Rettner, Rachael. “Divorce Not Always Bad for Kids.” LiveScience, Purch, 30 June 2010, http://www.livescience.com/6648-divorce-bad-kids.html.

--Original published at Caroline's Blog

Divorce is a growing problem in the United States and has an effect on a constantly increasing number of families. When this divide strikes a family, everyone feels its wrath. Not only are the parents struggling to manage their split household, the children are at an even greater loss and experience events that could have an impact on them for the rest of their lives.

Lamb, Sternberg, and Thompson make a strong argument about the negative outcomes of divorce on children. In their article, ‘The Effects of Divorce and Custody Arrangements on Children’s Behavior, Development, and Adjustment’, the trio explains that the separation of families can lead to long term behavior problems, a decrease in performance in the classroom, depression, and difficulty of forming relationships with others. However, this article also goes on to discuss that divorce does not have a negative effect on the long term psychological aspects of children. Paul R. Amato also discusses in his article, ‘Life-Span Adjustment of Children To Their Parent’s Divorce’, that children in divorced families have more social difficulties, bad relationships with the divorced parents, and are more psychologically unstable. Without a strong, supportive couple in the family, these children will lack guidance and will be at a loss into adulthood because of this split and may have a very large impact on how they live the rest of their lives.

On the other hand, some research shows that divorce does not have a serious impact on the lives of the children involved. Salynn Boyles from web.md suggests that marital conflict has a stronger effect than a divorce on children. She explains that as long as the child has a strong supportive figure in their lives, then the divorce will not harm them as much. She also mentions that how these negative effects roll out depend on whether the households were low conflict or if they were high-conflict families. If the households were low-conflict, the divorces would have a harder impact on the children if they were used to having no problems. If the family goes through a “good” divorce, then there could potentially less long-term problems with the children according to Norval D. Glenn’s article, ‘How Good for Children is the ‘Good Divorce’?’. Having a good divorce would be the best-case scenario in a perfect world, but this would be good for the children’s psychological health.

These articles are all credible as they are scholarly articles/journals, with the exception of the web.md article, so the information in them is trustworthy and has been gathered by professionals in the world of human development and divorce. Based on my reading, I believe that divorces and marital conflict most likely have a more negative effect on children. With the long-term consequences, they have to deal with, I believe that every other possible option should be considered before the parents finalize on a divorce so that they can realize how much their child may suffer from the separation for the rest of their lives. Although the argument is strong that divorce does not have an effect on the child’s mind and life, through real life experience and scholarly research, I believe it has anything but a positive effect on the lives of the children at the center of the divorce.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.174-1617.1997.tb00482.x

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1602482?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20000801/when-divorce-is-best-for-children#1

http://americanvalues.org/catalog/pdfs/2012-04.pdf