Family Breakdow

559 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of poverty on children

Children who suffer from a family breakdown can effect the child's educational achievement, behaviour, mental health and long-term health. There are significant differences between children who experience parental separation compared with children from intact families. Although the difference between the two groups is generally statistically significant, effect sizes are nevertheless small, reflecting the fact that within both groups, children vary widely in their experiences. Children from intact families can experience circumstances known to increase the risk of poor outcomes such as poverty, parental conflict, violence and poor parenting, whilst children whose parents separate may not experience these or can cope well, with the result that many children experiencing family …show more content…

Long-term effects in adults, who as children have experienced family breakdown, include problems with mental health and well-being, alcohol use, lower educational attainment and problems with relationships. There are significant differences within and across family types, and simple comparisons between different family types can mask much of the variation that exists. Step families, for example, vary enormously and living in a more complex stepfamily, where both parent and stepparent have brought children into the ‘new’ family has been associated with more adjustment problems than in a step family where all the children are related to the mother. In 1 terms of outcomes, the differences between children within family types can be greater than across family types. This suggests that family functioning, and not family type, is of greater

Show More
Related

  • The Squid And The Whale Case Study

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Family therapy is often needed when families go through transitions such as separations between parents and divorce. According to research, “the power of family therapy derives from bringing parents and children together to transform their interactions” (Nichols, & Davis, p.18), as problems need to be addressed at their source. The children who are the most vulnerable, when parents decide to separate, exhibit symptoms which are exaggerations of their parent’s problems (Nichols, & Davis, p.18). Frank and Walt Berkman are the examples of how children cope and adapt to the stressors of family separations such as marital separations and

    Read More

  • Divorce And Redefined Family Composition?

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States Census Bureau defines family as “a group [of] any two or more people (not necessarily including a householder) residing, together, and related by birth, marriage, or adoption. A household may be composed of one such group, more than one, or none at all. The count of family groups includes family households, related subfamilies, and unrelated subfamilies.” A family composition is redefined due to remarried families with stepchildren, single-parent households, or other family forms that are caused by divorce. This form of families also redefines the roles of each family member. However, children are the most affected by the separation of parents because of an overdependence on older siblings. Dr. Bren Neale and Dr. Jennifer Flowerdew, who are both affiliated with University of Leeds UK, carried out a research of children’s non-beneficial effects of divorced parents. As they stated in their academic article in “New Structures, New Agency: The Dynamics of Child-Parent Relationships After Divorce,” “sibling can play a significant ro...

    Read More

  • Stepfamilies and Divroce

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stepfamilies give a new meaning to the concept of “complex family relationships” (Hildebrand, 255). For that reason, the interactions within this family unit can be complicated and uncomfortable. There are many changes, positive and/or negative, that stepfamilies try to adapt to. For instance, adults take on new parenting roles and children take on new roles as well, such as a new stepparent or sibling. Parents and/or children may be required to relocate into a completely different house in a completely new neighborhood or city, which leads to separation issues with their nuclear family.

    Read More

  • Comparing Society: Married Childbearing Families And Society

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Children of divorce are more than twice as likely to have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems as children of intact families…” (Parke, Mary, “Are Married Parents Really Better for Children?” p. 4). Not receiving the support and nurturing that is needed from both parents during adolescents can affect the future decisions made by children at a later stage in their lives. The guidance that is needed for children to make their life long decisions such as continuing education, certain situation thinking processes and decisions. Divorced parents will face loss of income compared to a two parent income, depression, and self-acceptance. Separating mothers and fathers in a childbearing family will lead the mother or father to having to split the roles or replace the role of the other parent in the household while the child might only be allowed to live with one parent for a certain amount of time. Single parent childbearing families face dependency among government support programs while the single parent may or may not be receiving child support that alone is not enough to remove the financial burden that single parents incur. Children often find this difficult having to move back and forth from two homes rather than having one home. Single parents who may later decide to marry often times face large scale problems as a result of becoming blended. This includes methods of parenting

    Read More

  • Child Development Pros And Cons

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    On most occasions, divorces leads to children shifting from one district school to another leading to emotional disruption since they require emotional adjustments. After divorces, when there are second families, there are the unique problems of step families (Howe, 2012). Children may not be comfortable with step families since they may treat them unequally compared to their own children. Research has shown that most children suffer silently under the care of step parents. Subsequent marriages are less likely to work out than first marriages and hence it may require further adjustments to the lifestyles of the children. Studies that even though the subsequent marriages may work for the parents, the same success does not always trickle down to the children and hence they end up getting a raw

    Read More

  • Divorce and Consequences for Child Development

    1945 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Becoming A Single Family: Family Change In Society

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, as generations have moved into the 21th century there has been a major switch in the family unit. There is no considerable amount of family which can be defined as single parents home on the rise as the normal family or nuclear unit. “Whether a single-parent household is formed following divorce, separation, widowhood, or an out-of-wedlock birth, it is clear that the single-parent household has become a new family form in contemporary society”(Anderson,S,A,2010). Single parent’s household may not be the biological parent. Single parent’s household included mother, father, grandparents, foster or adopted parent, and a sibling. Each family unit is very unique and diverse which can amount to the vast differences between the families. However, there are many aspects that each single family household may have similarities. As a single parent can be more prone to stress and the children are often at a disadvantage when it comes to their mental and emotional health. Men and women who are a single parent family often struggle more than a two parents household because everything is rely on one parent. While single parents can different backgrounds which have lead to the single parent situations such as divorce, death, or other unique arrangements that can result in a change of family dynamics. This paper it will examine the similarities and the differences in families when single parents result from divorce, death and never married

    Read More

  • 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...

    Read More

  • The Psychological Effects Of Child Divorce

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mental health conditions developed as a result of divorce include: addictive disorders, learning disorders, personality disorders, and intellectual disabilities (Cuellar). Separation Anxiety Disorder is one of the most prevailing conditions diagnosed in the face of a divorce. The Mental Health Guide defines Separation Anxiety Disorder as, “a condition that causes a child or adolescent extreme distress when he or she is separated from her parents or caregivers”. It is common for children to experience anxiety on occasion and most children have moments of such panic but it does not last for long. Additionally, “because feelings of shame, decrease in self-esteem, self-blame, anxiety and fear may be prevalent for the child of divorce, children from divorced homes often perform academically worse than peers” (Finley). It is not rare for a child to have difficulty focusing on schoolwork due to stress and anxiety. Anxiety can take a toll on the overall well-being and can also cause sleep disruption and a lack of concentration in school. The methods of group therapy have also been known to be a good form of treatment. Group therapy challenges to “communicate with children on issues of importance, providing support, enhancing their skill development, and promoting their mental health” (Rose). Every family and individual will benefit differently from the methods of therapy but it is something to be considered and embarked on due to poor mental and emotional state a child finds themself during and after the

    Read More

  • Shielding Children from Parental Substance Use

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Separation can cause the children to display mood disorders, poor social skills, low self-esteem, etc; however, the removal of the children from their parents is often the best course of action in the situation ("Effects of Separation and Attachment"). Removal allows both the parents and children to be cared for with the goal of reunification in the future. Children that live in substance-using environments often encounter emotional, academic, and developmental problems.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Shocking Truths of Divorce

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    An absence of a parent or a parent’s separation, divorce, when a child is developing, may affect the child’s future relationships. “Evidence shows that, on average, children who have experienced parental divorce score somewhat lower than children in first-marriage families on measures of social development, emotional well-being, self-concept, academic performance, educational attainment, and physical health” (Demo, Supple)

    Read More

  • How Children of Single Parent Families are Affected

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is never a child’s decision to only live with one parent. There are many ways that single-parent homes occur. Some of these ways include unplanned pregnancy, divorce, the decision to be a single parent by choice, and death of a spouse. In every case families are disputed greatly. Parents might experience depression, emotional problems etc…. but the child is affected the most. Single-parent families are commonly targeted for controversial issues. We must be careful that we don’t stereotype these when they’re very hard to take care of themselves and their children. We do however need to notice distinct patterns in children who give up in a single parent home and what problems they face. Even though a dual family is noted as the best environment for c...

    Read More

  • The Effects of Divorce on Children's Mental Health

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Parental Conflict and Child Development

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    A longitudinal study of one hundred and eighty seven children ages five and six has shown us that parental separation is greatly associated with an increased rate of emotional and behavioral problems in children (Clemens,...

    Read More

  • Marriage Counseling or Couple Therapy

    2092 Words  | 5 Pages

    Marriage Counseling or “Couple Therapy” is a term that is used to describe a type of counseling a couple attends in order to help them overcome issues in their relationships to avoid separation or divorce. Today, people view divorce as something that occurs commonly between married couples who have difficulty maintaining a relationship with their spouse. For the past thirty years, the phrase: “fifty percent of marriages end in divorce”, seems to have been ingrained into people’s mentality because it has become extremely common to come across individuals who have either been through one or more divorces. Divorce or separation not only affects the couples, but also their children. Having a strong family plays a major part in the lives of children and is crucial for their mental well-being. A report done by a team of senior academics for DailyMail UK found that “the damage caused to a child by divorce continues to blight his or her life as far as old age” and that “parental separation in childhood was consistently associated with psychological distress in adulthood during people’s early thirties”. Not only does the report show that children are affected by the effects of divorced but, the report also suggests that as divorce and separation continues to grow more common in society, the effects it has on the mental health of children does not reduce.

    Read More

More about Family Breakdow

Open Document