Divorce And Its Effect On Children

In many countries around the world divorce is very common, and in many places, there are more divorces than successful marriage. It is well documented that children suffer a lot when they come from split households, and this detrimental effect continues to influence them greatly into their adulthood.

Psychological Problems

Children from divorced households are greatly affected psychologically from experiencing the split of their parents. Many children blame themselves for the reason for their parents’ divorce and this causes a complexion of guilt amongst many children, which affects their interactions with peers.

Research in 1988 found that children from divorced homes have more psychological problems than children from which one of the parents has died. This is a startling statistic that shows the trauma of divorce is even greater than the trauma of losing a parent for a child, empathizing the impact divorce has on a child.

Physical Well-being

There are many studies and statistics to suggest that children from divorced homes are more likely to be physically hurt than children that come from normal households.

The journal of marriage and family found that children of divorce are at a greater risk of experiencing injury and speech defects than those from two parent households. This shows the extent of harm that divorce causes and that it is not just confined to a psychological effect.

Research in 1984 also found that children from female-headed households are 10 times more likely to be beaten or murdered. This links in with children from divorced homes since after divorce the mother gets custody of children around 75% of the time.

This goes to show that children from divorced household not only deal with the psychological trauma of the event, but also are in danger of physical harm.

Education

The effect of divorce greatly hampers the children’s education. In 1994 a study concluded that the high school drop out rate of children from divorced households is two times higher than children from two parents households. It also found that children from repeat divorce households get lower results at school, as well as their classmates rating them unpleasant to be around with. This could largely be due the psychologically effect of divorce making the children not too jovial to hang around with.

Many researches and studies have concluded the various effects that divorce has on children; from mental effects to physical. With startlingly high divorce rates in many places of the world, there needs to be more support and outreach given to children who are the victims of divorce.