Annotated Bibliography On Divorce

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Annotated Bibliography In my research paper, I will explore how people with divorced parents perceive the effects of the divorce on their lives emotionally. To gather information for my study, I will interview four college students (two males and two females). Studies devoted to this topic exhibit that divorce has an overall negative emotional impact on children. Cherlin, Chase-Lansdale and Mcrea (1998) found that divorce had a negative and continuous effect on adult mental health. Children with divorced families exhibited high levels of emotional problems than those with no divorced parents. As the individual grew older these emotional problems continued to worsen. Similarly, Amato’s study (2003) found that adults who experience a parent’s …show more content…

By using fixed-effects and growth-curve models the researchers found that individuals with divorced parents had higher levels of emotional problems compared to individuals who never experienced parental divorce. They also found that the individuals with divorced parents had higher levels of emotional problems even before the divorce occurred, which are attributed to pre-divorce characteristics of the family. After the divorce takes place the individuals’ levels of emotional problems continues to increase, which suggests that the divorce and its aftermath may have effects that persist into adulthood. This study is important because while it shows children of divorce already have high levels of emotional problems before their parent’s divorce, it showed that these problems worsened directly after the divorce and continued to worsen into adulthood. Similarly, a later study by Amato shown below also shows that divorce leads to lesser mental health aspects in …show more content…

The research argued that boys are more likely to display behavioral disturbances after the divorce, as well as exhibit more problems of maladjustment years after the divorce. The author explains that the evidence found in these research findings may not be clear, for example he notes that the hazards of divorce may be not be greater for boys, they just manifest these problems in more visible ways. Research suggests that females are, however, shown to exhibit more long-term emotional problems as result of the divorce. For example, a study done by Wallerstein and Blakeslee (1989) found they have more severe problems in establishing emotional commitments in early adulthood and a study by Chase- Lansdale & Hetherington (1989) found that females are more likely to experience greater distress when their mothers enter remarriage. Furstenberg research shows that while there are negative effects of divorce on children, which are influenced by gender, they may be less significant than most researchers

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    Divorce connects with the family stress theory where as stress plays a major role in the separation between the spouses and the relationships between the children. Individuals who go through a divorce can be very stressed out because it is known that divorce is one of the most stressful situations a family can go through where they have to worry and stress over a lot of stuff (Smith, 2009). When going through divorce families lose their spouses, parents, and confidante within their selves, as they are often the primary caregivers of their children. When going through the process of a divorce the family goes through a time where they have severe and mixed emotions which are made more difficult by the stresses and worries of legal and financial problems and also custody battles (Smith, 2009). Divorce has a major negative effect on the parents as well as they have to support and counsel their children who may be involved in the process and are suffering too. Families who are going through a divorce or a parental divorce if it is the spouses or the children are going to experience series of emotional stages due to the post-breakdown (Smith, 2009). Stress from divorce can lead from anger and depression to fear and frustration. Also, families who are coping and managing all the tasks associated with divorce can also lead to anxiety, panic, and depression. The spouses who are straightly involved in the divorce experience different ranges of emotions as they being adults direct the daily tasks and responsibilities of living under the circumstances of a divorce (Smith, 2009). Due to the divorce the required rearrangement of the family especially if children are involved will affect every aspect of the daily...

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  • Family Stressors Case Study

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Divorce has stressors for both the parents and the children in the marriage. This can be seen in a study conducted by Jennifer M. Weaver and Thomas J. Schofield. For this study intact and divorced families were observed. Three main things were observed when doing the study, the income of the family before the divorce, children’s IQ as well as the mother’s predivorce sensitivity (Weaver & Schofield, 2014). The results confirmed the hypothesis that “children from divorced families had significantly more behavior problem than peers from intact families” (Weaver & Schofield, 2014, p.45). As it is seen, the stressors that come along with a divorce is a child’s behavioral problems and the economic well-being of the family. Divorce brings the stressor of economic well-being, for a single mother because if before the divorce, they were of low income, now they may struggle a bit

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  • Divorce and Consequences for Child Development

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    Strohschein, L. (2005). Parental divorce and child mental health trajectories. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1286-1300. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00217.x

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  • The Changes Introduced into Children's Lives by Divorce

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    Long time ago, I was talking to one of my friends Sami who was living with her dad. She is always upset and depress because her dad couldn’t take care of her all the time. She always missed her mom. She wanted to be with her mom. She wondered if her mom still loves her even though she never saw her mom. I asked her, “Why did your parents got divorced?” She answered, “I have no idea because they separated when I was three years old. My dad doesn’t like to talk about it. I miss her very much and I know she miss me as well. I am sure she might be thinking about me just like I think about her all the time”. Her words touched my heart emotionally. I felt sad. This conversation made me to think more on divorce, but I never got time to research on it. Now, I got an opportunity to select a topic to research so I chose divorce. I would like to know what situations children go through after their parents get divorced. I am assuming that divorce might be the hardest thing for some children, especially in childhood life.

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  • Divorce in the United States

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    than at home. For example, a couple living in New York State, where until 1967

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  • The Effects of Divorce on Children

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    Divorce is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, significantly affecting children’s well-being. It radically changes their future causing detrimental effects. According to (Julio Cáceres-Delpiano and Eugenio Giolito, 2008) nearly 50% of marriages end with divorce. 90% of children who lived in the USA in the 1960s stayed with their own biological parents, whereas today it makes up only 40% (Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan, 1999). Such an unfavorable problem has been increasing, because in 1969, the legislation of California State changed the divorce laws, where spouses could leave without providing causes (Child Study Center, 2001). This resolution was accepted by the other states and later, the number of divorced people has been steadily growing. Such a typical situation is common for most countries in the world, which negatively affects children’s individuality. However, remarkably little amount of people can conceive the impact of marital separation caused to offspring. (? passive) Many children after separation of parents are exposed to a number of changes in the future. They have to be getting used to a further living area, feelings and circumstances. Their response to divorce can vary and depends on age, gender and personal characteristics. This essay will show the effects of divorce on children under various aspects such as educational, psychological and social impact. In addition, it will contain data about the divorce rate in the US and present disparate reactions of children. It will also include adequate recommendations for parents as to how act to children after divorce, in order to minimize the adverse effect on children.

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  • Divorce and Its Effect On Children

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first study to be considered is a qualitative study which spanned a 25 year period and looked at 131 children from divorced families of the 1970’s. It was specifically concerned with growth and development (psychologically and socially) of these children post divorce and had extensive follow-up interviews with both parents and children at 18 months, 5, 10 and 25 year marks. At the 25 year follow-up a comparison group of adult children from intact families who had otherwise similar backgrounds were also interviewed. Some of these “intact” families were ideal while others were filled with conflict, most were somewhere in the middle. This study found a casual relationship between divorce itself and the well-being of the children which was significant all the way into adulthood. The study found that parental conflicts from before the divorce were not dominant in the children’s memories but unhappiness was related mostly to the separation itself (most children in this study had no expectations of the breakup prior to it occurring). The exception to this is when violent events occurred as with 25% of c...

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  • Divorce Should Be Harder to Obtain

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    Divorce should be harder to obtain due to the effect that it has on children the main effect it has on the children is depression. “ In the short term divorce is always troublesome for children Mavis Hetherington videotaped and scrutinized the workings of 1400 divorced families since the early 1970’s. Hetherington pinpoints a crisis period of about two years in the immediate aftermath of separation when the adults, preoccupied with their own lives, typically takes their eye off parenting just when their children are reeling from loss and feeling bewildered” (Hethrington 2). This article states that the short term effect of divorce affects the kid deep because they feel that they lost one forever and in those 1400 many of the kids felt the effect of the divorce. “Wallerstein has told us that divorce abruptly ends kids’ childhood, filling it with loneliness and worry about their parents, and hurting them prematurely and recklessly into adolescence. (Wallerstein 2).” This later affects the kids life because they try to think of happy memories they had but really all they can think about is the parent that they loss due to the divorce. “Contrary to the popular perceptions, the alternative to most divorces is not life in a war zone. Though more than 50 percent of all marriages currently end in divorce, experts tell us that only about 15 percent of all unions involve high levels of conflict. In the vast number of divorces, then, there is no gross strife or violence that could warp a youngster’s childhood. The majority of marital break-ups are driven by a quest for greener grass—and in these cases the children will almost always be worse off. (Zinsmeister 2)” this proves to me that when people get a divorce they most of the time don’t ...

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  • Effects of Divorce on a Child

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    Divorce is a very common word in today's society. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage or a complete or radical severance of closely connected things"(Pickett, 2000). This dissolution of marriage has increased very rapidly in the past fifty years. In 1950 the ratio of divorce to marriage was one in every four; in 1977 that statistic became one in two. Currently one in every two first marriages results in divorce. In second marriages that figure is considerably higher, with a 67% average (National Vital Statistics Report, 2001). One critical aspect of divorce is often not taken into consideration: How it affects children. Every year 1.1 million children are affected by divorce (Benjamin, 2000). Children from divorce or separation often exhibit behavioral and long-term adjustment problems (Kelly, 2000). Throughout this paper I will discuss divorces effects on children at different age levels, how they react, and what can be done to help them.

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  • Does Divorce Affect Children Negatively?

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    Vousoura, EleniVerdeli, HelenWarner, VirginiaWickramaratne, PriyaBaily, Charles. “Parental Divorce, Familial Risk For Depression, And Psychopathology In Offspring: A Three-Generation Study.” Journal Of Child & Family Studies 21.5 (2012): 718.MasterFILE Premier.Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

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  • Children of Divorced Parents

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    Children of divorced parents often enough feel as though the divorce is their fault and become depressed and distant while suffering from low self-esteem since they think that they are the reason their parents split. Many children of divorced parents typically grow up with behavior problems and poor self-images as though they cannot be loved or are not worthy of being loved since their parents divorced, there is the feeling of not being loved at all. The children also suffer because they are now separated from one parent and no longer have both parents in the home. This devastation causes psychiatric trauma to the child’s state of mind.

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  • The Process of Divorce

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    Today in America, divorce is now a common thing to happen. It can affect every person from any social class. Divorce is viewed by people in many different ways. Some people see divorce through studies that not always necessarily accurate. Other see it from what they have experienced. When a marriage starts to fail, most couples just prefer to have a divorce. For those couples it is just the more simple solution for them, rather than trying to force the relationship to work.

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  • The Effects of Divorce on Children's Mental Health

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    Considering that over 45 percent of marriages today end in divorce, it is crucial to understand recent research regarding the positive and negative effects of divorce on children’s mental health. Studies have shown that although children of broken homes generally have more adjustment difficulties than children of intact families, the distinction between these two groups appears to be much less significant than previously assumed (1). In the case of parental separation, studies suggest that children undergo a decline in the standard of living, exhibit poorer academic performance, engage in increased alcohol/ substance abuse, as well as experience diminishing rates of employment. However, underlying factors must be taken into consideration when assessing the long-term consequence of divorce on children, which happens to be resiliency rather than dysfunction (1). These key contextual factors that influence post-divorce adjustment include parenting styles, custody arrangements, age of the child, financial stability, and most importantly, the nature and magnitude of parental conflict. Persistent, unsettled conflict or violence is linked to greater emotional anxiety and psychological maladjustment in children, whereas negative symptoms like fear and insecurity are reduced when parents resolve their conflicts through compromise and negotiation. Although divorce unveils many risk factors involving a child’s health, it may be more beneficial rather than detrimental to children living in highly discorded families, in which children are able to acquire externalizing and internalizing behaviors (1). The development of coping skills and living in a supportive and empathetic environment are two crucial components for children to manage their ne...

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  • Teens Emotional Reactions after Parents Separation

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    American Journalist, Helen Rowland said, “ When two people decide to get a divorce, it isn’t a sign that they don’t understand each other, but a sign that they have, at last, begun to” (1). Divorce means the ending of a marriage by legal separation, thus, a couple that were once bonded together have now separated for opposing reasons. Divorce has hurt and destroyed many families across the world and can cause a lot of negativity. Teens often do not know how to deal with the fact that their family is no longer whole and they will transition into a depression. Teens may experience emotional damage by seeing the two most important people in their lives fight constantly. There is a good side and a bad side to seeing parents go through a divorce as a teen. Quite often teens tend to see that, since they are so unhappy, that it is better for them to separate because they do not want to see their parents get hurt. Even when separated, they learn to communicate and bond between one another. The negative side of divorce is that families sometimes stay torn apart, therefore: There is a lot of anger, rage that happens because going through a situation like this is not something that is easy, and many emotions become involved. Dealing with their parents can be difficult for some teens, but for many others, they feel as if a divorce will make their family happier without seeing all of the fighting.

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  • Divorce : The Legal Separation Of Marriages

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    Divorce destroys lives!. A current dilemma in society is the legal separation of marriages. In the United States 50 percent of all couples are divorced (Psychological and Emotional Aspects Of Divorce).Overtime it seems that couples no longer value long term commitments in marriage. Many couples who are married and do not understand why other couples do not value their relationship as much as they do. There are many things that can cause divorce such as money problems and couples going down a different path. There are also effects of the separation such as child depression and alcohol/drug abuse.

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