Impact Of Divorce On Children

Although the divorce rates in the United States is declining yearly, it doesn’t hide the fact that divorce impacts a child’s life. With many psychologists doing research on the impacts of divorce on a child’s mental health. New information is being discovered, some of which serve as an indicator to how the child will live their life. With parents becoming more concerned about divorce, and facts and opinions becoming intertwined. It’s important to realize the actual impacts of divorce on a child’s mental health, and how it would it actually impact them. Divorce can yield an impact on children’s mental health, affecting their emotional well being, mental health and self-concept. The impact of divorce on children is often a taboo subject, why

According David Sbarra, a clinical psychologist, contends that those who suffered from a divorce often stuck in “their own pain or misery” (Sbarra). This shows how the children who couldn’t cope with their parent's divorce, are stuck in an endless cycle of misery and pain. This proves that divorce does indeed disrupt the emotional stability of children of divorce. Furthermore, Sean Coughlan, a news correspondent for BBC, revealed that some teenagers put on a facade “in the face of family breakdown, but the emotional impact can run deep” (Coughlan). Teenagers going through a divorce, pretend to be resilient, however, they’re breaking down in the inside. Revealing how divorce causes problems for children to cope with their feelings, only to leave them to be confused and frustrated. Divorce makes it difficult for children to cope with their emotions, leaving them emotionally

Patricia E. Walsh, a psychologist who conducted a study on children of divorce, discovered that children of divorce are prone to “depression, hostility, anxiety, pathology and poor self-esteem” (Walsh et. al. 267). This illustrates how children of divorce are prone to developing mental disorders, which further adds onto their problems. This connects to the difficulty with coping with a mental disorder, in which goes on later in life. In addition, Paul R. Amato, a researcher from Pennsylvania State University, states that in his studies that “adults with divorced parents tend to be less satisfied with life, greater unhappiness, a weaker sense of personal control, more symptoms of anxiety, depression” (Amato et. al. 903). The manifestation of the impacts of divorce is shown to even have an impact on adults from divorce. Proving how divorce can damage children’s mental health, creating problems with psychological development. The impacts of divorce can damage children’s mental health, leading to mental health problems in their