Mediate Michigan

Recent research on the impact of divorce of children can be very instructive for those parents who are ready and willing to do what they can to help their children weather this crisis. Early research on the effects of divorce painted a very bleak picture. That research and its conclusions were limited, however, by the fact that the researchers relied on very small samples and neglected to compare children of divorce to children living within intact families.

What We Know

Without a doubt, divorce represents a crisis of major proportions for children. Still, stereotypes about the disastrous effects of divorce on children notwithstanding, the actual differences between these children and children living within intact families turns out to be less than the early research would lead us to believe. As measured by standardized tests of psychological adjustment, the majority of children of divorce fall within the normal range. Essentially what this means is that divorce does not have to become a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure, depression, low self-esteem, and so on.

via Joseph Nowinski, Ph.D.: Helping Children Survive Divorce: Three Critical Factors.