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The effects of parental divorce on adolescents
The effects of parental divorce on adolescents
Negative effects of divorce on adolescents essay
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Most people think about “marriage”, whether it originates from a little child watching one of their Disney princess movies or a parent trying to help their kids find a potential spouse. Unfortunately, some marriages do not work out for the best. When two spouses don’t agree and eventually grow apart from each other, it will then lead to “divorce”. Divorce is when two spouses officially end their legal marriage, then both spouses usually separate from each other. Divorces can be painful, emotional and even liberating in times for the spouse. In today’s society, being divorced or even knowing someone being divorce is normal. In the United States alone, almost 40 to 50 percent of marriages end up divorced. It also estimated that 60 percent of second marriages end up getting divorced. When two spouses finally get …show more content…
In discovery, researchers have found that separation and divorce was related to trajectories of increasing internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. A few years later, a new approach was used which was called the “multilevel modeling approach”. Using this new concept, an observation over family status transitions (e.g. a child coming from a single parent or have a step-parent) was investigated and discovered that it was involved with the increase levels of behavior problems (Weaver, 2015 pg.3). Now, all these behavior problems that children are preforming have to come from somewhere after post separation. There are four post separation processes that occur throughout divorce that might lead to problems in the child adjustment to divorce. One is the family income, two is the mother’s depressive symptoms, three is the mother’s sensitivity to the child, and lastly the quality of the homes environment. Usually after divorce, the income of the family declines which could cause problems since the parent will
Many people who have suffered through the emotional trauma of divorce strongly believe that losing a spouse as a result of an unwanted divorce has had a greater impact on their emotional health and well being than losing a spouse in death. A significant number of therapists and other psychiatric professionals agree, for they understand that divorce is far more than just a legal process. (Rich and Schwartz)
In the 21st century, divorce has become commonplace not only in the United States, but in many parts of the world. Franklin and Boddie (2004) reported that within 10 years about 40-50% of American marriages end in divorce. In 2009, the divorce rate in the United States stood at 3.6 per 1,000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). Divorce, however, is not only a social issue, but it has serious health implications. Divorce has been researched extensively and is considered an adverse event (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). Adverse events such as personal or parental divorce has been linked to many ailments and conditions including substance abuse, depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and premature mortality (Sbarra, Law, & Portley, 2011; CDC, 2009).
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
Divorce is and has become a major issue in our society, the reason for that has been attributed to the drastic increase in divorce rates over the years. Divorce often disrupts the flow of the family structure, increases discord, and affects how family issues are handled. Families dealing with divorce are often times in a state of complete confusion and disorder, and filled with frustration, anger, and pain. Power struggles between spouses, which often times spread to the children if there any increase as the addiction worsens. There is a growing concernment among those in different fields like Social Work, Academia, and Mental Health in the United States, other countries, who have taken an interest in how divorce is readjusting
Marriage is a commitment that seems to be getting harder to keep. The social standards placed on an individual by society and influenced by the media inevitably lead some to consider divorce as a “quick-fix” option. “Have it your way” has become a motto in the United States. It has become a country without any consideration of the psychological effects of marriage and divorce. The overwhelmingly high divorce rate is caused by a lack of moral beliefs and marital expectations.
As both premarital sex and divorce within the United States becomes both more popular and more acceptable, the problem of having two divorce mongering parent whom have already had children together increases as well. Its one thing to get married and divorce someone as you find that you’ve rushed things too quickly and don’t truly love a person, even though it might be wrong. But if children have already commenced between the two parties in question there is more to it than simple personal moral values. The well-being of the children must be accounted for and thus things should be thought through and one must tread lightly so as not to damage the developing butterflies. Children in most cases, as there are always exceptions to every rule, need two parents of total normalcy to develop unharmed by instability, lack of trust, and with good rolemodels for love and the necessity to stay with a partner rather than cycle through them once one gets boring. However children may also find themselves harmed by constant bickering, which they often blame themselves for, and domestic abuse is a large problem that can hurt a child both physically and mentally. As for The Good Book, its stance is clear: Marriage is absolute and final, although again there are extreme exceptions to every rule.
Many Americans would be shock to learn that “in America, there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds. That’s nearly 2,400 divorces per day, 16,800 divorces per week and 876000 divorces a year” (32 Shocking). Divorce causes many negative effects and has become too accepted in society. Children and parents are affected physically through the divorce process. There are psychological effects for the members of the family that are involved. The negative impacts on the family’s future life should be taken into consideration.
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...
Most people divorce due to uncertain, complicated reasons. Perhaps divorce is a way for some to escape insecurities or personal problems. It’s no secret that divorce has helped people run from their problems instead of facing them. It is easily arguable that divorce is the primary cause of family destruction and relationships. According to American Psychological Association, about 90 percent of the twenty-first century marry by the age of 50 (APA). The APA states that healthy marriages are essential for couples’ mental and physical health. They are also influential when raising children; it also acknowledges that raising children in a happy home shields them from mental, physical, educational and social problems. Nevertheless, approximately
Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur.Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce.In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same. Most marriages are ending within seven years ofthemarriage for multiple different reasons. Sociologists haveestablisheddivorce as a social problem from the rise in divorcerates due to the early year of marriages (2006).
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.
One tough thing about today's American family is divorce. In 1816, one marriage out of one hundred ended in divorce. Then between the years 1869-1888, divorce increased up to one hundred and fifty percent. And the worse, between the years 1960-1980, the divorce rate increased up to two hundred and fifty percent. Divorce rates peaked in 1981 and then started to decline a little during the mid 1980's. However, divorce rates now are as high as they have ever been. Now fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. There are five reasons for the increase in divorce. The first reason is in modern societies; individual happiness is regarded to be important so when people are unhappy with their marriage, they break-up and split. The second reason is it is easier to get divorced financially. The third reason is that women's economic independence has contributed. The fourth reason is the stigma of divorce has lessened so people are not
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...
Divorce, in history, has always been considered as a deviance of society. However, in the modern world, where people have senses of individualism, divorce has become a phenomenon. There are numerous reasons for divorce, from not knowing each other well enough before marriage, lack of money, long distance relationships, frequent disagreements to partners...
In this twenty century, divorce is very common; especially in the America today, the country that focus on their citizen’s freedom. The term "common" here is not that every marriage couples will end up divorce, but it means that the society already accept and have an open might about divorce. In the article "The Making of a Divorce Culture" by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, she had mention that "divorce is now part of everyday American life. It is embedded in our laws and institutions, our manner and more, out movies and television shows, our novels, and children 's storybooks, and our closest and most important relationships." Everyone should have seen or at least hear about it once in their life from their own experience or from someone they