Effect of Divorce on Children: What About The Kids? by Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee

While divorce gives parents a novel opportunity to begin a new life, it leads to an unfortunate twist in lifestyle for the children. In “What About The Kids? Raising Your Children Before, During, and After Divorce” Judith S. Wallerstein, Ph.D., a psychologist who spent 25 years of her life studying the effects of divorce on children, and Sandra Blakeslee, a scientist writer who has spent nearly all of her profession writing for New York Times, wrote, “Each decision to divorce begins a long journey that holds surprising, unexpected turns.”. Divorce leads to many unforeseen negative consequences for the children involved. Some frequent symptoms such as, anxiety, depression, guilt and grief emerge in the children’s behavior.
Anxiety is used as a broad name for numerous disorders that involve nervous fear, and worrying; children experience nearly the equivalent feelings when their parents separate, for children behave in an overly intense and uptight conduct. As American Academy of Child and Adolescent points out, a couple of the symptoms of separation anxiety are: continuous worries about family and being overly clingy. A frequent children's worry appears when children go away from a parent leaving the other parent alone; moreover, children assume that in their absence parents get hurt or become unwell. Another familiar worry appears when the children sleep. Children have nightmares about their parent’s separation, fearing to be left unaccompanied at some point. Helpguide.org states that children are clingy with the parent that is taking care of them by following him/her around the dwelling and holding to the parent’s arm if he/she attempts to step outside of the dwelling. The overly clingy approach of children toward parents is caus...

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...nocence and sincerity. Children are not able to completely understand what the whole divorce course means. The effects children experience, such as anxiety, depression, guilt and grief, are some ways in which children express their feelings towards separation. Divorce does not signify separation for parents only; it also implies the consequence of a series of eternal effects for children if not treated carefully.

Works Cited

1. “What About The Kids? Raising Your Children Before, During, and After Divorce” by Judith Wellerstein and Sandra Blakeslee.
2. American Academy of Child and Adolescent
3. Helpguide.org
4. “Parenting After Divorce; Resolving Conflicts and Meeting Your Children’s Needs” by Philip M. Stahl, Ph.D.
5. “The Truth About Divorce” by Barry Youngerman and Mark J. Kittleson, Ph.D.
6. “Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce” by M. Gary Neuman, L.M.H.C.