Divorce: Consequences for Children
Robert E. Emery PhD1
Mary Jo Coiro 2
1 Professor and Director of Clinical Training, Department of Psychology
2 Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
An extensive body of research exists on the consequences of divorce for children. The conclusions of this research are captured by the concept of resilience, children's ability to "bounce back" in the face of stress. Most children from divorced families cannot be distinguished from children from married families on objective measures of psychological functioning, including assessments of conduct, depression, anxiety, and school performance. Nevertheless, it is clear that divorce often creates many dramatic stressors for children, including involvement in their parents' conflicts, decreased contact with one parent, strained relationships with the other parent, and economic problems. Coping with these substantial changes can tax children's emotional resources and may leave them with lingering feelings of hurt, resentment, and longing for a parental reconciliation. The concept of resilience highlights both children's ability to cope with change and some of the painful consequences of coping with unwanted changes in family life.
Definition
Despite its familiarity, several considerations should be noted about the definition of divorce. First, divorce is a developmental process that unfolds over time. Changes in family life typically begin long before the physical separation and continue long after the legal divorce. Second, because divorce reaches into many areas of people's lives, theorists often talk about the "legal divorce," the "emotional divorce," the "emotional divorce," the "economic divorce," and the "social divorce."
