Effects of Divorce
on Children
What Determines How Kids Respond to Divorce?
It depends on--
 | Age at time of divorce |
| Socioeconomic level before and after divorce |
| If they are forced to choose between parents |
| If siblings are together or apart |
| Remarriage and when it occurs |
| Abuse |
| Extended family involvement |
| Visitation between parents |
| Child’s perception of divorce |
| Child’s personality |
| Changes in home, school, church, etc. |
| Extended court battle |
| Parental hostility or friendship |
| Sex of custodial parent and sex of child |
"Every child should remember joy yesterday, experience joy today, and anticipate joy tomorrow."
Studies have shown that children of single-parent families differ in eleven areas from children of those in two-parent families. These are:
| More tardiness |
| Achievement |
| Greater number of absences from school |
| Greater number of health clinic visits |
| Greater number of discipline referrals |
| Greater number of suspensions |
| Greater number of days suspended |
| Greater number of free lunches |
| Greater number of reduced-price lunches |
| Greater number of children with government funding |
| Greater number of children transferred |
COMMON EFFECTS OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN
BIRTH TO THREE YEARS OF AGE
| IRRITABILITY |
| REGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS |
| CLINGING, WHINING, CRYING |
| SLEEP PROBLEMS |
| FEAR OF ABANDONMENT |
PRE-SCHOOL
| FEAR, CONFUSION, GUILT |
| WORRY, STRANGE FANTASIES |
| CHILD CAUSED BREAKUP |
| REGRESSIONS |
EARLY ELEMENTARY
| GRIEF; YEARNING FOR LOST PARENT |
| ANGER SUPPRESSION TO DAD |
| ANGER EXAGGERATION TO MOM |
| REUNION FANTASIES |
| SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR ADULTS |
| LOYALTY TUG-OF-WAR |
| SCHOOL PROBLEMS BEGIN |
UPPER ELEMENTARY
| HIDE, DENY FEELINGS |
| TRY TO UN-DO THE DIVORCE |
| ANGER OVER PARENTAL DOUBLE STANDARDS |
| PSYCHOSOMATIC & SELF ESTEEM PROBLEMS |
| ADOLESCENTS |
| MAY MASK PROBLEMS |
| LOSS OF ROLE MODEL |
| ASSUME ADULT RESPONSIBILITIES |
| ACTING OUT |
| MORAL DEVELOPMENTS |
| RELATIONSHIP NEEDS, PROBLEMS |
WARNING SIGNS: If the child pretends absolutely nothing happened; threatens suicide; panics frequently; physically assaults others or is cruel to animals; behaves poorly with other family members; becomes involved with drugs or alcohol; begins committing serious socially delinquent acts or other self-destructive behavior; is unwilling or unable to socialize with other children; or if school work takes a dramatic decline or the child develops a phobic fear of school.
ABSENT DADS
Absent Fathers in children's lives is a problem that is ravaging our society. It is important for all children to have two involved, loving, and supportive parents whenever possible.
| Nearly 40 percent of America’s children go to sleep every night in a house where their biological father does not live. |
| Four out of 10 children in fatherless homes have not even seen their fathers in at least a year. |
| Twenty-nine percent of white children are not living with their biological father. |
| Fatherless children are five times more likely to live in poverty. Children living without a father are more likely to repeat a grade in school, be expelled or suspended, or drop out. They are more likely to suffer from physical or emotional problems. |
| In America, one in five divorced fathers has not seen his children in the past year. More than half do not see them regularly. |
| There are 180 areas in the national census in which 90 percent or more of homes with children lack a father. |
| Violent criminals are overwhelmingly males who grow up without fathers: 60 percent of America’s rapists, 72 percent of adolescent murderers, and 70 percent of long-term prison inmates. |
| Committed and responsible fatherhood is important to children and society. Father absence is the one single, primary factor contributing to the social ills ravaging our society. |
| It’s just as important for a divorced dad to be involved in his children’s lives as it is to pay child support. |
Source: The Arizona Republic, June 16, 1996, pp. H 1, 2.
More Info on How Divorce Effects Kids:
Divorced
Kids....What you need to know to help your children survive divorce