The Possible Negative Emotional and Psychological Consequences in Children of Divorce
Volume 6
Leah Cameron
College of DuPage
Abstract
Over 50% of American marriages end in divorce. If one’s parents are divorced, that person is more likely to become divorced him/herself later in life. In divorced families, the parents are far more likely to be depressed, stressed, lacking emotional support from friends and family members, and reporting more conflict with their ex-spouses. A child in these circumstances may feel abandoned, unloved, or come to believe that there is something “wrong with them” that caused the other parent to go away. A parent’s absence can affect a child not only through the direct factor of their absence, but through a lack of fiscal support as well. The research question was, “What’s The Possible Negative Emotional and Psychological”?
“In the aftermath of a divorce, one of the more unfortunate outcomes is that one of the parents may become absent from the child’s life” (Cameron, 2008). “In post-divorce, children are nearly two times more likely to be living in poverty, as almost 41% of their fathers have no child support agreements in place with the courts, and about 50% of them never pay their court-ordered amount” (2008). These statistics show what happens to these children that are left with parents that are going through a divorce. “The negative factors in the divorced parents’ lives – anger over the divorce, stress over financial issues and ongoing conflict with the other parent, low levels of education as well as pay, and a lack of emotional support – may, at times, overflow onto their children, whether or not they intend to do it, or are even aware that it is happening” (Cameron, 2008). The child may have to deal with what is termed “parental alienation” – which is when the desire of one parent to turn the child against the other. It shows that the studies all clearly show that a parents’ divorce can have many consequences on a child, even going onto adulthood. These consequences may include difficulties with adult relationships with their own spouses or children, lingering feelings of insecurity and doubt, low self-esteem, and even drug and alcohol abuse.
This journal article did not have and graphs or tables. This article can be improved by having table or any graphs that’ll help the reader understand the study more. Also, they could have included the ethnicity, race or the socioeconomic rate for divorce. The study also could have included why people get a divorce. Overall, there information and statistics were greatly used and were helpful.
Cameron, L. (2008). The possible negative emotional and psychological consequences in children of divorce.ESSAI, 6(15), 25-30.
Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=essai