Introduction
Marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Globally, everyone often hopes they grow up, marry someone they love, and start a family. No one ever foresees divorce or separation after marrying the love of their life.
Recent studies indicate that about half of marriages in the United States end in separation or divorce. Since divorce and separations are common in the US, people have significantly assumed the effects it has on couples, children, and the community as a whole. Growing up is always complicated for children; some find it significantly challenging.
In addition to having to face the challenges that come with growing up, having divorced parents makes life even more challenging for them. While all parents can be concerned about a variety of things, such as their future living situation or the ambiguity of the custody agreement, they might be most concerned about how their children will handle the divorce. According to Quirk, a study by sociologist Lisa Strohschein notes that children of divorced parents display higher levels of anxiety, sadness, and antisocial conduct than their peers whose parents are still together.
Most marriages in the US fail after some time, and the couples separate. According to a 2016 estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 50% of all marriages in the US result in divorce, often with children (FASTSTATS – Marriage and Divorce). For instance, over 1.5 million American children who have experienced divorce have reported feeling that everything has suddenly ended and the world has collapsed (FASTSTATS – Marriage and Divorce).
Children as the Most Affected Victims
Parents who are divorcing frequently worry more about their children’s futures. Due to this, some parents stay unhappy in their marriages for the benefit of their kids. However, many dissolve in bad marriages because they cannot maintain them. Eaton notes, “The children of the conflict-filled divorces, whom I call America’s Little Warriors, often endure both emotional and physical trauma as their parents try to maneuver their way through their conflict” (35). Therefore, the ones who stand in a position of being significantly impacted by divorce are children.
Mental Health Consequences: Anger, Anxiety, and Depression
Divorce’s first mental health impact on children is hunger or irritability. Children feeling overburdened and unsure of how to handle the effects of divorce may occasionally become furious. According to Marcin, numerous alleged causes may be the target of their rage.
Children going through a divorce may get angry at their parents, at themselves, at their friends, and at other people. Some children may also tend to direct their anger inside, hence blaming themselves for their parents’ separation. While this anger can begin at any age in a child, school-aged children and teens are the ones who experience most of these impacts.
Parental divorce also adversely impacts children’s academic performance. Research has repeatedly shown that children whose parents have divorced may perform worse academically than their classmates or experience a high dropout rate. Statistics across time on the consequences of divorce on schooling confirm these conclusions (Parker). Marcin notes several plausible explanations for this connection, including the possibility that youngsters may feel ignored, depressed, or otherwise preoccupied due to increasing parental conflict. Less interest in high school academics could eventually translate into less desire to continue one’s education in general.
Additionally, children may lose class time for court appearances, and if the divorce is permanent, they may change schools. Because they are either living with one parent or moving between two houses, they might also need more parental guidance and engagement in schooling. Lastly, poor academic attainment among children who experience divorce may also result from the loss of economic security. Many parents may lose a higher percentage of their pre-divorce incomes, significantly affecting how best they can take care of their children after divorce.
Divorce is also linked to anxiety among children. According to Maker, many children and young adults often find divorce a significant life stressor and develop anxiety in various ways. While some studies indicate that kids often tend to be resilient, and some kids fare well after divorce, sometimes divorce or separation can lead to anxiety due to significant life transitions.
Moving houses, switching schools, commuting between two homes, altering routines, and changing caregivers frequently can be stressful for kids and teenagers (Marcin). When children experience increased stress and consistent shifts in their lives, they develop anxiety, which can develop into a severe anxiety disorder if not addressed. Changes in mood, emotions, and attitudes in the classroom and at home are just a few examples of how anxiety in kids and teenagers can manifest itself in behavior. Some of the typical anxiety markers in children include increased irritability, anincrease in arguments, anincrease in anger, sleep difficulties, and difficulty with attention and focus. In other cases, children with divorced parents may have strong feelings of anger, confusion, guilt, and blame, which are indicators of anxiety.
Children going through a divorce may also develop depression. According to Marcin, while it is normal for a child to be sad or low due to divorce between their parents, some of them are often exposed to the risk of developing clinical depression. Even more alarming, a small number of people are also more vulnerable to suicide threats or attempts.
Even though children in different age groups may develop depression, those over ten years are at a higher risk. Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that boys are more exposed to the risk of suicidal thoughts or attempts due to divorce than girls (Marcin). This aspect shows they are less resistant to the aftermath of family separation.
Long-Term Impacts: Substance Use and Relationship Struggles
The other mental health impact of divorce is addiction to alcohol and substance use. According to Clemmensen, early stressful or traumatic experiences are one of the leading causes of substance use in teenagers and young adults. Parental divorce undoubtedly matches these requirements because most cases are traumatizing, at the very least. Studies indicate that divorce often renders a child in one parent’s custody (Clemmensen). A child raised by a single parent has access to limited financial resources, fewer health coping resources, and is more socially isolated, significantly increasing their risk of alcohol and substance use.
Secondly, divorce or separation is often associated with poor parent-child communication and poor parental monitoring, which contributes significantly to the high substance abuse rate among adolescents. Additionally, children with divorced parents lack adequate parental supervision and tend to be more susceptible to pressures from their delinquent peers. These children also report using fewer esteem-focused, support-seeking, and problem-focused coping techniques (Maker). A risk factor for substance misuse is depression, which is more prevalent in kids with negative attitudes toward their parents’ divorce.
Children who go through a divorce may also have issues maintaining healthy relationships with other individuals in the future. People who have grown up in divorced households typically have less favorable views of marriage and more favorable views of divorce. Reduced commitment to romantic relationships due to this unfavorable attitude toward marriage is linked to lower relationship quality (Eaton 44).
One reason these children find it challenging to keep relationships is that they tend to have lower trust. A child who grows up with less trust in others may never have a stable romantic relationship, as they cannot develop the stress necessary to keep one. Marcin notes that children who experience divorce learn that there are different family structures aside from the nuclear family. According to studies, children may prefer cohabitation (living with their partners without getting married) to marriage. This is a relatively standard occurrence in today’s culture, regardless of family history.
Conclusion
In conclusion, parental divorce significantly affects children’s mental health and overall long-term well-being. While growing up as a child is complicated and dramatically challenging for some young ones, it is more puzzling and more complicated when one has divorced parents. Compared to children living with both parents, those going through separation tend to have poorer mental health conditions. Some of them report cases of anxiety and depression, sleeping difficulties, frequent anger and irritability, social withdrawal, poor academic performance and attainment, a challenge in creating relationships in the future, and so much more. Most of these cases are evident in children aged 10 years or older.
Work Cited
“FASTSTATS – Marriage and Divorce.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2022. Web.
Clemmensen, Emmalynn Pepper MS. “The Correlation between Divorce and Adolescent Substance Abuse.” Project Know. 2023. Web.
Eaton, Mariah. “Negative Effects of Divorce and Possible Intervention Program Development and.” Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology, vol. 13. no. 1, 2018, pp. 34-48.
Maker, Azmaira H. “Divorce and Anxiety in Children and Teens.” Psychology Today. 2019. Web.
Marcin, Ashley. “10 Effects of Divorce on Children — and Helping Them Cope.” Healthline, 2020. Web.
Parker, Wayne. “Key Statistics About Kids From Divorced Families.” Very Well Family. 2022. Web.
Quirk, Michelle. “The Impact of Divorce on Children.” Psychology Today, 2022. Web.