--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

 

 

 

--Original published at jennacampanellipsych

These days divorce rates are very high, 40-50% of married couples in the United States get divorced. With so many divorces, you have to look at the consequences and effects on children of these failed marriages. It is a debate that has been going on for years- does divorce effect the children of the marriage?

According to a Psychology Today article, divorce has a negative effect on children, even if they are adults. The author says, in her experience of having divorced parents, there is self blame for the child which causes grades and extracurricular activities in school to drop. She also talks about how her life lost a parent from the divorce, leaving her unsupervised with a single parent who was depressed from the divorce. For adults, she says it affected her relationships because she was scared to trust someone knowing they could leave. She says she also went into her marriage knowing she could divorce, after being exposed to that as a child. She ends the article by saying divorce has lifelong effects, and they are not good.

In another article titled, “The Psychological Effects of Divorce on Children”, they go through how divorce at all different ages effects children. They say young children cannot fully understand it and worry if their parents may stop loving them, just as they did with each other. For grade school age children, they say children blame themselves and think they did something wrong. In teenagers, it is common for them to blame one parent and become angry. The article then goes on to talk about the risk of mental health and behavior problems. Both of these have higher rates for children who have experienced divorce, including, anxiety, psychological, and behavior with peers issues. They say that adults are also effected by having a higher rate of substance use problems and mental health issues. 

On the other side of things, Psychology Today posted another article, titled, “Enhancing Positive Outcomes for Children of Divorce”. In this article, he talks about how divorce makes most children upset at first, yet it does not cause major problems that are lifelong. He also goes through ways to make divorce easier on children, by keeping them out of the issues between parents. He also says to be supportive and spend more time with the children for support. He says if the parents are supportive through the divorce, children can grow up without having problems. 

Another article titled, “Positive Effects of Divorce on Children” argues that divorce may be what is better for the children of the marriage, if the marriage is toxic and creating a harmful environment. She talks about if a marriage is abusive, the best thing for the children is to split up the parents and stop the fighting so children do not have to be around that. If the parents act civil toward each other after the divorce, it teaches children about relationships and how to handle things the right way. 

After these readings, I believe that divorce does have a negative effect on children, but if you handle it the correct way it will not effect them too bad for their lifetime. If the parents through and after the divorce put their children first, it will not be a huge negative effect on the children’s lives.

Sources Cited:

Boyd, Karie. “Positive Effects Of Divorce On Children.” Kids in the House, 8 July 2015, www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/karie-boyd/positive-effects-of-divorce-on-children. 

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

Gumbiner, Jann. “Divorce Hurts Children, Even Grown Ones.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 31 Oct. 2011, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-children-even-grown-ones.

Morin, Amy, and Steven Gans. “The Psychological Effects of Divorce on Children.” Verywell Family, Verywellfamily, 24 Aug. 2018, http://www.verywellfamily.com/psychological-effects-of-divorce-on-kids-4140170.

--Original published at Marlee's Psych 105 Blog

Over the past decade, divorce has become more and more common in the United States. This means that more and more children are also being affected. In some families divorce is the only option to put the household at ease but what is controversial is the effect that it has on children. This debate is over how divorce can either leave a child with no emotional damage or can be totally destructive to their mental wellbeing.

In todays society, divorce is seen as a relatively normal thing compared to that of ten years ago. Divorce happens very frequently in todays day in age; people change and so do their wants and needs. When we look at divorce the first thing that is brought to our attention is who gets the house, car, beach house, etc., but what we should be taking a deeper look into is how the child is affected. According to Dr. Jane Anderson, “Each child and each family are obviously unique, with different strengths and weaknesses, different personalities and temperaments, and varying degrees of social, emotional, and economic resources, as well as differing family situations prior to divorce. Despite these differences, divorce has been shown to diminish a child’s future competence in all areas of life, including family relationships, education, emotional well-being, and future earning power.” To further explain Anderson’s thoughts, she also gives bulleted breakdowns to each factor that is influenced by divorce. These factors include: child’s loss of time with each parent, child’s loss of economic security, child’s loss of emotional security and lastly, a child with higher levels of emotional stress. All of these factors can result in an emotionally damaged child.

To support this Cornelia Brentano’s, Divorce: Causes and Consequences, states that depending on the age of the child the emotional results of the divorce can vary, but that all ages experience negative effects in some way. Specifically, “reactions vary with age, but across the board, children experience feelings of confusion and betrayal as they watch their family fall apart and feel neglected while their parents struggle with their own problems” (Brentano). Overall, children, no matter their age, will experience negative effects after a divorce.

Although, a large percentage of children who undergo a divorce, experience negative effects, there are some who come out unaffected and unchanged. According to The Washington Post, “Some children are simply more resilient to stress than others. Others manage to find safe niches that insulate them from the trauma of divorce. They may have a special relationship with another adult, or they may be buffered from the conflict by one parent.” This article argues how some children are simple unaffected by divorce. It explains how every chid is different and that they will have different emotional responses to the divorce itself. Reactions to divorce can be dependent on how well the child is able to cope and their temperament. In addition, Kendra Jolivet, tells us how in 2009 a group of teenagers were asked to fill out a survey on the topic of divorce. The response was very positive. Most teens when asked about divorce said that it made them feel more  independent and that they felt they were old enough to cope with the divorce itself.

Based on what I read, I think that divorce impacts children in a negative way. This negative impact, leads to multiple emotional hardships later on in life and can damage a child mentally. On the other hand, I do believe that if I child is placed in an environment that is dangerous do to the parents relationship, than a divorce can take place.

Anderson, J. (2014). The impact of family structure on the health of children: Effects of divorce. The Linacre Quarterly, 81(4), 378–387. Clarke-Stewart, Alison. (2006). Divorce: Causes and Concequences. Yale University Press, 2(5), 1-12. DIVORCE DOESN’T ALWAYS HURT THE KIDS. (1989, March 19). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/03/19/divorce-doesnt-always-hurt-the-kids/6432e596-b8d3-45f1-a3f7-0a1029a59240/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c08d55e4d884MLA (Modern Language Assoc.) Jolivet, Kendra Randall. The Psychological Impact of Divorce on Children: What is a Family Lawyer to Do? 2011. American Journal of Family Law, 25(4) . Date Accessed 7 October 2018.

APA (American Psychological Assoc.)
Clarke-Stewart, A., & Brentano, C. (2006). Divorce : Causes and Consequences. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press

--Original published at Kaylyn's PSY105 Blog

Divorce can be a messy situation; especially, when children are involved, because it will turn their lives upside down. Since divorce is becoming more common, so have the arguments being made on both sides on how it affects a child’s wellbeing. Most people have evidence to support their argument on either side, if it affects the child drastically, or not. There are cases to support both sides; however, you also need to look at the credibility of the sources giving you the information. If not, then you could be caught up with information that is not true or is twisted to make it appeal to their side. Both sides of the coin have reasons to believe whether a child is drastically affected, or not, by their parents getting divorced. Jann Gumbiner is a clinical psychologist, and child of a divorced set of parents, which makes her passionate on the issue of divorce on children’s well-being. Being educated in mental health and being in a child of divorce’s shoes herself makes her a credible source because she had first-hand experience, and has education on mental health. She aligns herself on the side of people who believe divorce is an awful event that happens to the child and will impact them for the rest of their lives. She finds divorce to be selfish on the parent’s part, because they are putting their well-being, over the well-being of their children. In her situation, she did not have a stable family life after her parent’s divorced. Neither of her parents were there to place rules and enforce them. Her father was no longer prominent in her life and her mother became depressed, this caused her to become depressed and rebellious. She became frisky with male teenagers, her grades kept slipping due to lack of motivation, and she began to stop studying. She also believes that it will affect children in the long-term, when they enter into relationships of their own. Her experience with this issue is when she entered her future marriage and knew that she could leave. Due to her parent’s divorce, she has a passion with this issue, and she voices how it affected her throughout her life. Another source that believes that divorce is bad for children’s well-being is Wayne Parker who wrote an article for “VeryWell Family”. Wayne Parker is a certified life coach, and the author of a parenting book called “Power Dads”. He did not have a personal touch with divorce like Jann Gumbiner, and used many outside sources in the form of journals or published books. He discussed the physical, emotional, and educational effects of divorce on children. Parker pulled facts from the Journal of Health and Social Behavior 29 (1985), which spoke about children being 50 percent more likely to develop physical health related issues than in two parent households. When discussing emotional effects he pulled from multiple sources which claimed that children are a lot more likely to develop depression or other mental health issues when their parents are divorced. For educational effects, he pulled from a book which claimed that children of divorce are two times more likely to drop out of high school. Overall, he uses sources, rather than personal experience, to develop a case for parents to stick together for the sake of their children’s health. On the other side of the argument people believe that children are drastically/ negatively affected by divorce. In contrast to the two sources above, Susan Pease Gadoua, believes that sometimes divorce can be better than being in an unhappy marriage. Susan Pease Gadoua is a licensed therapist, and she also is the author/ co-author of multiple books on divorce and marriage. She is a believer that parents who divorce may be doing the best thing for their child in certain situations. Children can sense tension and would be just as easily affected by tension between parents, as they would if the parents become divorced. If the parents fight or show that they are unhappy that will have effects on the child. If you leave and are much happier because of it, you can still raise happy children with bright futures. She also points out the fact that you cannot test whether a child is affected heavily by a divorce, because you cannot put two families in the same situation. Also, there are too many other variables that may be happening in one family, and not in the other family they are being compared to. Every situation and every family are different; however, there are steps parents can take to make a divorce less problematic for the children. In agreement with the author above are Andrew Cherlin and Frank F. Furstenberg Jr. are both professors, and authors of a few books on families. In their article to The Washington Post, they write about how each situation is different for each child and family. Sometimes children in the same families will handle the situation differently because some children are better at handling stress. They also critiqued the book “Second Chances: Men, Women and Children a Decade After Divorce,” by psychologist Judith S. Wallerstein and journalist Sandra Blakeslee” (Cherlin and Furstenberg 1). They talked about how the claims were exaggerated and that the study lacked randomization since the families were referred. The authors make the argument that parents who stayed together in conflict-ridden marriages may cause their children equal, if not more, amounts of pain. Another factor is how the custodial parent acts after the divorce. If the parent is angry or depressed, it will cause the child more pain to see their parent in that situation, and the parent cannot help the child recover. Divorce is becoming a much more common situation than it was in the past, and when children are involved it can make a complicated situation more complicated. People want to make sure that the child can continue to be happy and healthy and some se divorce as ruining their chance at happiness. Although, on the other end, people see divorce as unique to each situation and people will react differently. In my opinion I can see some points on both sides; however, I believe that everyone is different and will handle divorce differently. Communication is a key factor in divorce because the children will not always understand what is going on and will need help to understand. Telling them that it is okay to feel what they are feeling and be willing to listen, can go a long way. Overall, I can see that divorces can happen and that children will not always be worse off; however, staying in an unhappy marriage can cause issues as well.   Works Cited Cherlin, Andrew, and Frank F Furstenberg . “DIVORCE DOESN’T ALWAYS HURT THE KIDS.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Mar. 1989, http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/03/19/divorce-doesnt-always-hurt-the-kids/6432e596-b8d3-45f1-a3f7-0a1029a59240/?utm_term=.c6428bf74291. Gadoua, Susan   Pease. “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, 31 Oct. 2011, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-children-even-grown-ones. Parker, Wayne. “Statistics About Divorce and the Impact It Can Have on Children.” Verywell Family, Verywellfamily, 25 Sept. 2018, http://www.verywellfamily.com/children-of-divorce-in-america-statistics-1270390.  

--Original published at Cecilia's Thoughts

Divorce is a prominent issue in not only today’s society, but also in my life specifically. I have lived through three separate divorces, my parents, and then each parent getting remarried and divorced again. Though I have gone through more than most, I believe that it has had both positive and negative effects on me and how I have turned out now that I am older. In order to determine which side is truly correct, i had to complete some research because my own life experiences just were not enough.

I began by looking at articles on the negative effects, the two articles I found were on MomJunction and Iowa State’s research website. The first one is written by Rohit Garoo who has a bachelor’s degree in science and a masters in business. I found this website to be credible by looking at the date of publication, the credentials of the author, as well as editors. This website is edited by a clinical psychologist and a bachelor of medicine. Due to all of these factors, I deemed this source credible. This article discussed ten negative effects of divorce on a child, five short-term effects and 5 long-term effects. Without discussing each of the ten effects I think the most influential effect for short-term is constant stress which is described by Garoo as the false responsibility of the divorce that the child thinks. The child puts this on themselves which can lead to so many other effects on the child. “This can lead to immense stress and pressure on the young mind, which can have several repercussions like negative thoughts and nightmares.” (Garoo, 2018) The second article I found on the negative effects of divorce on children is done by Iowa State and the article was written by Jayna Solinger, I deemed this credible because it is done by a scholarly institution, has an edu tag, and has works cited after the article. Though this article is credible, it’s one fault is that it is bias and is strongly against divorce and intensifies its effects. The general statement of this article is that it is better for everyone involved to work through the problems within a marriage instead of going through a divorce. Though I agree with the first source on the effects it has, I disagree with the second article because many divorces can lead to happy co-parenting and overall more of a positive atmosphere for the parents in each household and for the child going back and forth.

After researching negative effects, I then looked at positive effects. This may seem weird because the question may be asked, how can a failed marriage be good? The first article that I came across was from Psychology Today, written by Neil Farber who has a bachelors of science with honors in psychology who also completed dual Doctorate degrees in research in medicine, this provides a credible author, and a credible website, the date of publication is also recent.  This article addresses frequently asked questions about divorce and what the parents can do to help the children going through this and answers for these questions. At the end of the article, Farber discuss ways to have positive outcomes from the divorce and why you should do these things. The second article I retrieved from a website called Divorce and Your Money and it is written by Shawn Leamon who has a Masters of business studies. I chose this source because, though it is not written by a psychologist, it provides information on how in some cases, divorce is the better option. This article basically discusses how not all marriages can be saved, and staying together may be causing more stress on the child and the parents. With this Leamon touches on the fact that if the parents divorce this could lead to less stress, increased ability to adapt because if the child can make it through their parent’s divorce then they can adapt to anything. Shawn also discusses how it also allows how divorce gives the child on-on-one time with each parent (Leamon, 2017).

After reading these four articles on both the positive and negative effects I do not think there is a right or wrong side of the argument. There are both positive and negative effects when going through a divorce and I think that the right decision depends on each and every relationship because each one is unique. In some cases I think it is better for the parents to work through their issues, but in other cases I think it is worse to stay together and put the children and themselves through the constant fighting and conflict. Ultimately it is most important to look at your own relationship and decide what is best for the family, whether the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa to decide whether divorce is more beneficial or detrimental.                                   

  Negative Effects:

Garoo, R. (2018). 10 Negative Effects Of Divorce On Children And Ways To Mitigate Them. Mom Junction. Retrieved from https://www.momjunction.com/articles/side-effects-divorced-parents-children_0022338/#gref Solinger, J. The Negative Effects of Divorce on Children. Retrieved from http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rhetoric/105H16/cova/jlscova.html

Positive Effects:

Farber, N. (2018). Enhancing Positive Outcomes for Children of Divorce. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-blame-game/201803/enhancing-positive-outcomes-children-divorce

Leamon, S. (2017.) Potential Positive Effects of Divorce on Children (It may not all be bad news…). Divorce and Your Money. Retrieved from https://divorceandyourmoney.com/blogs/positive-effects-of-divorce-on-children/