Long-term effects of divorce on children: resilience, survival, vulnerability

Long-Term Effects of Divorce on Children

Research reveals divorce negatively impacts the divorcing individuals. The effects of divorce the children of divorcing parents experience, however, has not been heavily researched. Consequently, the focus for this qualitative case study examines six studies, to investigate the long-term effects of divorce on children.

"A stable family situation after divorce does not erase the negative effects of a divorce, but children in this situation fare much better than do those who experience chronic instability"

Ohio State University (2008, ¶ 4).

Marks of Divorce

In some "bad" marriages, some spouses contend divorce would likely relieve their stress and proffer the way to a happier life. According to a study of 416 rural Iowa women by researchers from Iowa State University's Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, however, over a 10-year span, divorce increased chronic stress and produced greater physical illness ("Divorce increases chronic," 2006). What appears to have not been studied as frequently as the effects of divorce on the divorcing individuals, the researcher recently found, was the effects children of divorcing parents experience. The rate of troubled young adults from divorced families, 20%, reportedly doubles the 10% rate from nondivorced families, according to D. Eldar-Avidan, M. Haj-Yahia, and C. Greenbaum, C. (2009) in their qualitative study, "Divorce is a part of my life resilience, survival, and vulnerability: young adults." This qualitative case study examines the study by Avidan, Haj-Yahia and Greenbaum, along with five other studies, to investigate the long-term effects of divorce on children.

SIX STUDIES STUDIED

Study II

In a "good divorce," C.R. Ahrons (2007) stresses in "Family ties after divorce: long-term implications for children," listening to the voices of children experienced a parental divorce proves vital. Even though the child's views may dramatically differ from his/her parents', the child's perception, not their parents', that lays the groundwork for their reactions and behavior. (Ahrons, 2007, discussion section, ¶ 12). Ahrons draws on the data from the longitudinal Binuclear Family Study, where "173 grown children were interviewed 20 years after their parents' divorce" (¶ 1).

Ahrons (2007) addresses the following two basic questions:

1. What impact does the relationship between parents have on their children 20 years after the divorce? and

2. When a parent remarries or cohabits, how does it impact a child's sense of family? (Ahrons, 2007, ¶ 1)

Findings from this study reveal that even after 20 years after the parents' marital disruption, the participant's parental subsystem continued to impact his/her binuclear family, as it exerted a significant influence on the quality of relationships within his/her family system. "Children who reported that their parents were cooperative also reported better relationships with their parents, grandparents, stepparents, and siblings" (Ibid). Whether or not family relationships remain stable, improve, or worsen depends on a complex conjoining of a number of factors. Ahrons (2007) contends. When one considers the long-term implications of divorce, Ahron's study indicates, the need exists to emphasize life course and family system perspectives. Study III

"After divorce, stable families help minimize long-term harm to children," (2008) reports that study results indicate that children living in unstable family situations after their parents divorce did not do as well on a variety of measures, in fact, much worse, than children with families who experienced stable, post-divorce situations Yongmin Sun, co-author of the study and associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University's Mansfield campus, asserts: "For many children with divorced parents, particularly young ones, the divorce does not mark the end of family structure changes -- it marks the beginning" ("After divorce," ¶ 3). Nevertheless, even though children may live in a stable family situation, after their parents divorce, they will still experience negative effects from the divorce. Children in a stable, family situation, albeit will cope better than children who continue to experience chronic instability ("After divorce").

Study IV

J. Wallerstein and J.M. Lewis (2007) indicate in, "Disparate parenting and step-parenting with siblings in the post-divorce family: Report from a 10-year longitudinal study," the need exist for expanded parent education proves critical in helping to decrease negative effects on children whose parents divorce. Along with focusing on resolving conflict, divorcing/divorced parents, as well as the children, could benefit from addressing the opportunities, along with the stressful post-divorce changes both adults and children will face in the future. In the midst of the workplace challenges parents counter, along with their efforts to establish a satisfying adult life, after a divorce, realistic advice/education could help parents allay a number of frequently justified anxieties children experience during and after their parents divorce. Consequently, expanded parent education would definitely fill a contemporary, critical need (Wallerstein & Lewis).

From the longitudinal study of divorced families that Wallerstein and Lewis (2007) conducted, they found the existence of widely discrepant psychological adjustment among siblings of divorced parents. The instability noted in numerous parent-child relationships after the parents divorce and remarry reported challenges the view that divorce constitutes a time-limited crisis for children. Contrary to this perception, divorce reshapes the lives of children of parents who divorce, long-term.

Study V

In "Parents' discord and divorce, parent-child relationships and subjective well-being in early adulthood: is feeling close to two parents always better than feeling close to one," Juliana M. Sobolewski and Paul Amato, (2007) report that studies during the past three decades reveal that children with divorced parents experience an elevated risk of countering a variety of difficulties/problems in their early adult years. These may include, but not be limited to:

Low socioeconomic attainment, weak ties with parents, symptoms of depression and relationship instability. (Sobolewski & Amato, 2007, ¶ 1)

Study VI

In "Mothering mothers: An exploration of the perceptions of adult children of divorce," K. Hughes (2007) note that a dearth of literature examines how parental separation continues to influence the relationships between adult children and their parents. It is clear, albeit, whether the parents are separated or not, the degree of ambivalence a child experiences toward his/her parents correlates with conflict and poor parental relations in his/her early life (Hughes). Hughes reports that only now as the children of the divorce boom of the 1970s in Australia have become adults, can researchers examine the impact of parental divorce exerts on the lives of the adult child of divorce.

During the study by Hughes (2007), 30 participants, 15 men and 15 women, living in suburban Melbourne, selected by chain-referral, had each experienced single parent, step, or blended family situations after their parents divorced. Hughes interviewed the participants from between one and two hours, in their workplace or their home. Hughes reports:

Firstly, the levels of intimacy expressed by the participants in relation to their mothers is consistent with other studies (see Arditti, 1999a, 1999b, Arditti and Madden-Derdich, 1997; Paterson, 2001). This level of intimacy can be 'determined by the level of commitment and positive affective, cognitive, and physical closeness' (Moss and Schwebel, 1993: 33) and for the most part it is the case that the data in this study show a commitment between mother and child (with the exception of Tim), a positive affective and cognitive closeness (in other words the mother and child know and feel a great deal about one another) and are physically close (this is more difficult to ascertain given that the data covers the period from childhood to adulthood but, in the main, such closeness is evident). Yet the difference in this study is not the strength or depth of the feelings but that they are so critical of their mothers -- particularly of their mothers' anger and the longevity of their hostile feelings about the separation: they should have 'moved on' (8).

Secondly, how might these intense, sometimes negative feelings for their mothers be accounted for? One possibility lies in two linked issues touched upon earlier: role reversal and role diffusion. Johnston (1990) argues that reversal occurs when a child effectively replaces the absent partner in terms of decision making processes and performing tasks more normally undertaken by a parent. Role diffusion involves a similar dynamic of usurpation but involves a situation where 'parents and children act unilaterally in terms of their own needs'. (Hughes, 2007, the generation x project section, ¶ ¶ 38-39)

Thirdly, it seems to me [Hughes] that the participants' feelings towards their mothers can also be accounted for by exploring the emotional culture of their generation in the same way that they themselves account for their parents feelings and behaviour in terms of their generation. In contast, the expectations of their parents' generation were that marriages simply continued unless a spouse deserted, committed adultery or was cruel. As is clear from the data, the participants argue that the longevity of their mothers' feelings of loss, humiliation and disappointment can be explained by their expectations that marriages would, simply, last. (Hughes, 2007, the generation x project section, ¶41).

In such a context, the children, according to Hughes (2007), structural family theorists, for instance, characterize this type to reflect "role reversal" which transgresses the role boundaries which generate healthy family dynamics, especially for children: ... when the parental alliance breaks down and the emotional boundaries are blurred, the children may be induced to assume spousal/parental functions. They may take on the role of confident, peer or mentor to a distressed parent, as well as 'parent' to their siblings (Johnston, 1990: 406). (Hughes, 2007, introduction section, ¶3).

Divorce, Hughes (2007) asserts reshaped the family role. Consequently, when children of divorce grow up, and they negotiate their own relationships with their parents, the process appears to be not be strongly marked by roles. The adult children of separation reportedly experience heightened contradictions regarding family roles, as they feel family demands truncated their growth towards autonomy. In turn, according to Hughes, contemporary adult children do not feel as bonded to their previous generations, as their previous generations may have been.

CONCLUSION

No Erasing

From the study of the six studies presented by this study, the researcher asserts that rather the divorce is "good divorce," as C.R. Ahrons (2007) notes, or a bad divorce, even positive experiences after a child's parents divorce will not erase the divorce's negative impact.