Divorce introduces a massive change into the life of a boy or girl no matter what the age. Witnessing loss of love between parents, having parents break their marriage commitment, adjusting to going back and forth between two different households, and the daily absence of one parent while living with the other, all significantly affect the child and for him or her, life is never the same as before. This painful event can bring about different responses, but the effects, in general, are psychological, physical, and social. One of the most significant impacts of divorce upon children, are the devastating psychological effects.
Most children, particularly kids before age 12, lack the coping skills and maturity and feel incapable of understanding why the parents split, and how to cope with the new changes ahead. Moreover, they can have adjustment problems in future. Many of them will believe that it is all because of them and this can cause them depression at early age. In general, children will feel angry, depressed, interpersonal conflicted, vulnerable to any negative change in the future, and can even show hostility and resentment to parents and to the others around him.
In addition, researchers have found that children from divorced families showed less well-being in comparison to children from intact families. Physical effects are usually a reflection to the psychological problems they are facing. Such physical effects include sleeping or eating disorders, drug abuse, sexual or physical abuse to others, self-harming, etc. Physical effects upon children are variable among children. A third effect of divorce is the social impact, which affects the children’s future relationships. The child can later show difficulty in building strong relationships and maintain supportive friendships.
The child can fear commitment, intimacy and most importantly, the fear of having a divorce like parents. They also tend to have less trust in their spouse, and lower social and economic statuses in life. In conclusion, divorce displays various effects and impacts upon children. Most children cannot recover the drastic effects of divorce, yet fortunately, divorce rates around the world are in decrease as a result to more awareness of divorce’s effects, more compatibility among parents, etc. This means that only less number of children will suffer, and many more will lead a future successful life.
