THE EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC CONFLICT AND DIVORCE
Another
way that families differ is in the degree to which parents fight and, in some
cases, whether they eventually divorce. There is no question that divorce can
have negative effects on a child—but, happily, in many cases it does not. Thus,
one study estimated that 20 to 25% of children of divorced families will
experience significant problems (Hetherington, Bridges, & Insabella, 1998).
This statistic is troubling—and is double the risk for children from intact
families. Nonetheless, these same numbers tell us that 75 to 80% of children
from divorced families do not
experience significant problems.
What
sorts of problems are associated with divorce? The list is long. Children whose
parents have divorced are at greater risk for depression, have lower self-esteem,
and tend to be less competent socially (Amato, 2001; Amato & Keith, 1991).
Adolescents whose parents divorce are more likely to drop out of school and
more likely to have unwanted early pregnancies (Hetherington, Bridges, &
Insabella, 1998).
Can
we predict which children will suffer from their parents’ divorce, and which
will not? The outcome tends to be worse if the children are younger at the time
of the divorce. The outcome also tends to be worse if the children experienced
significant con-flict between their parents in the months (or years) leading up
to the divorce (Cummings & Davies, 1994), although in such cases, it may be
those pre-divorce ten-sions, and not the divorce itself, that are the source of
the children’s later troubles. Finally, this is another place where attachment
matters. Children with secure attach-ments seem to cope more easily with
parental conflict than children with insecure attachments.
Related Topics
Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, DMCA Policy and Compliant
Copyright © 2018-2024 BrainKart.com; All Rights Reserved. Developed by Therithal info, Chennai.