According to Parents, there are three most important factors influencing children’s well-being during and after their parents’ separation or divorce and these are potentially within parents’ control: the degree and duration of hostile conflict, the quality of parenting provided over time, and the quality of the parent-child relationship.
Of course, the parents’ own well-being and ability to function effectively are at the root of all of this.
Parents who learn how to manage conflict, parent effectively, and nurture warm and loving relationships with their children can have a powerful, positive impact on their children even as they go through multiple difficult changes in their own lives.
VeryWell Family suggests that these are the three most common effects of divorce that parents should watch out for:
1. Mental Health Problems
Divorce may increase the risk for mental health problems in children and adolescents. Regardless of age, gender, and culture, children of divorced parents experience increased psychological problems.
Divorce may trigger an adjustment disorder in children that resolves within a few months. But, studies have also found depression and anxiety rates are higher in children from divorced parents.
2. Poor Academic Performance
Children from divorced families do not always perform as well academically. However, according to a 2019 study, children from divorced families tend to struggle in school if the divorce was unexpected, whereas children from families where divorce was likely to happen, did not have the same outcome.
3. Behavioral Problems
Children from divorced families are more likely than children from two-parent families to experience externalizing problems such as conduct disorders, delinquency, and impulsive behavior. Children may experience more conflict with peers after a divorce, in addition to increased behavioral problems.
Also see: How to make the best out of a blended family
