This article is of extreme importance in this research study. It adds to the other articles mentioned by discussing the importance of protective factors in detail and urging caution when espousing a correlative relationship between cause and effect in divorce and the reaction of children.
Leon, K. (2003). Risk and Protective Factors in Young Children's Adjustment to Parental
Divorce: A Review of the Research. Family Relations, 52(3), pp.258-270.
In this article, Leon (2003) attempts to address a gap in the research of divorce's affects on children by examining divorce's affects on small children. Citing Amato (2001), Leon points out that research has previously shown children to face hardship because of divorce, although they "adjust well" (pg. 258), however, he suggests that these results generally take into account older children. Leon (2003) looks primarily at the variable of early childhood development as it is impacted by...
Interestingly, Leon (2003) found results that were remarkably similar to Amato's, noting that children with divorced parents tended to be associated with developmental problems such as being withdrawn or having behavior problems. However, it would be easy to argue that other factors were responsible for these results. In addition, interpreting the results of these tests was made difficult by various factors that might lead to their invalidation, such as the fact that the data was collected from self-report surveys (Leon, 2003). Still Leon (2003) concludes that divorce certainly impacts the lives of young children very greatly and the developmental level of young children should determine how professionals such as psychologists respond to the issue of divorce in the child's home. Further, while parenting skills were important mitigating factors for both older and younger children after divorce, Leon (2003) points out that for younger children, it…
