The effects of Divorce on children

Divorce is one of the most controversial topics out there. Not only is it put an impact on the family and un-stabilized it, but it also caused many consequences to the child's health overall. Some people consider family instability to be a serious public health issue for kids, while others consider divorce or separation to be quite benign, even a good thing, especially for women in unhappy marriages or kids who have seen a lot of conflict in their lives. Research has shown multiple times that children who witness the divorce of their parents, later show signs of anxiety, depression and anti-social behavior than those whose parents are married.

This has put a lot of pressure on the kids and heavily caused a mental, physical, and social damage to them. This has proned the children to develop mental health issues at an early age. Most of these mental health issues are hard to diminish and some of them can be lowered through medication and years therapy. The way in which it effects the child depends on the situation on which the parents are getting a divorce. there may different kind of effect on a child because of the divorce: psychological, social, economic and etc.

Causes and effects

causes

There are many different reasons as to why a parent's divorce and leave a huge impact on kids. The causes may include:

1. Economic reasons - this reason is one of main reason as to why people end up divorcing, with the recent studies showing that a husband's unemployment may be one of the key factors. The financial difficulties faced by the people lead to arguments and lack of communication eventually leading to a divorce.
2. Age - those who marry at a young age when they're teenagers are much more prone to divorce. The main reason to this is because that teenagers are less mature - intellectually, emotionally, and experientially - during their teenage years, eventually leading to a divorce later in life.
3. Domestic violence - domestic violence and gender mishaps often lead to divorce. This domestic violence is often imposed on women. This is also much more the case where - "the women are given harsh treatment by either the spouse or the in-laws when she's married" (Eyo, 2018). The violence can be hinted either physically, emotionally, sexually, verbally, or economically, etc.
4. Medical reasons - reasons such as inability to provide a child to the other spouse, whether be it on a wife or a husband, protracted illness, insanity, or addiction, etc. Some people may have an addiction to certain substances, behaviors or people (it happens). Whether on drugs, gambling, or alcohol may lead to a divorce and wrecking a person's life, not only theirs but also others life as well.
5. Unrealized expectations - before marriage, a person may lead on another person through different expectations but later broken after the marriage. People tend to come for marriage with different expectations and needs - they want their economic, social, academic, and religious needs to be met - however, when the needs are not met, the marriage bond is broken with a divorce.

Effects on children

1. Psychological effects - this is where the child may experience either severe or lesser forms of mental health issues. This may cause a huge problem in their daily life and how they function normally. Some of the common forms of mental health issues in this case include - anxiety, depression, anger, insecurity, low self-esteem and confidence, and tend to feel lonely or isolated.
2. Problems of adjustment - the biggest disadvantage it comes to the children when their parents are divorcing, is the problems of adjusting to the new lifestyle and not being able to go back to a normal life they once had. The kids have to adjust to a change in primary change in relationships or a possibility of a restricted interaction with one of the parents. Apart from that, they have to deal with parental conflict. Proning them to physical and emotional problems.
3. Object of abuse by parents - after the divorce, one of the parents seem to vent out their anger on the child, usually in the absence of the other parent. This way they seem to transfer the aggression.
4. Hatred towards one parent - sometimes the child may hate one parent, who they think, is the main cause of the divorce.
5. Lack of balance training - as children are born and grow under the shade of their parents, they are expected to be trained by both the parents - starting from an early age. However, in the case of the divorce it is not possible, especially when one of the parents does not allow the child to see the other parent.
6. Social problems - with the deficiency in their upbringing and the absence of one parent, the child may have a difficulty in being able to do social activities. They may indulge in dangerous activities, harming their physical and mental health. These indulgences in activities include sexual vices, illicit drugs, alcoholism, robbery and many more.
7. Economically - the children may suffer economically as they grow older. Along with that, studies show that children from divorced parents are more likely to face problems economically and financially when they're older than the children whose parents are not divorced.

Summary

It is well clear that children are resilient and take the most impact, as is shown in a large portion of divorce research and writing. In the first one to three years after a breakup, the repercussions are frequently more difficult. However, it is not necessarily that children may be affected by the divorce, some may see it as a positive thing and a way of starting a new life. The effect it has on a child depends from child to child. Children suffer because divorce causes painful events to occur while they are very young. Lack of sufficient parental support, which is essential to healthy child development, causes children to become melancholy and frequently lose their sense of purpose in life.

But if a child has a problem with the parents divorcing and has developed some wort of mental health issues; it is best to talk to a professional who'll help the child overcome the symptoms through therapy and medications. For the sake of the children, trying to co-parent together in a constructive, cooperative, and respectful way is the best possible way too, to help the child have a normal sociable life.

References:

Healthline Parenthood (2020). Effects of Divorce on Children: Behavioral, Social, and More. [online] Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/effects-of-divorce-on-children#takeaway [Accessed: 25 Jun. 2023].

Morin, A. (2022). The Psychological Effects of Divorce on Children. [online] Verywell Family. Available at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/psychological-effects-of-divorce-on-kids-4140170 [Accessed: 25 Jun. 2023].

Perkel, J. (2022). The Impact of Divorce on Children | Psychology Today. [online] www.psychologytoday.com. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/21st-century-childhood/202208/the-impact-divorce-children [Accessed: 25 Jun. 2023].

D’Onofrio, B. and Emery, R. (2019). Parental divorce or separation and children’s mental health. World Psychiatry, [online] 18(1), pp.100–101. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20590.

Eyo, U. (2018). (PDF) Divorce: Causes and Effects on Children. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337773612_Divorce_Causes_and_Effects_on_Children [Accessed: 25 Jun. 2023].

Kaydence Kidd (2019). The Cause and Effect of Divorce on Children - 875 Words | Research Paper Example. [online] Free Essays. Available at: https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-cause-and-effect-of-divorce-on-children/ [Accessed: 25 Jun. 2023].