The Christian Institute 5 September 2014
The negative impact of divorce on children is the same whether parents remain amicable or not, according to a new study in the US.
Researchers asked 270 parents who were divorced or separated between 1998 and 2004 about how their break up had affected the youngest child in their family.
The study found that children of divorced parents were more likely than others to have behavioural problems, mental health difficulties, and were at a greater risk of performing poorly at school.
Problems
But the children’s problems were not improved regardless of whether the parents got on well with each other or continued to argue after the divorce, according to the research.
The paper’s abstract said: “Despite the expectation that children fare better if their divorced parents develop a cooperative coparenting relationship, the authors found that parents’ reports of their children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors and their social skills did not significantly differ by type of post-divorce coparental relationships.”
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/no-such-thing-as-a-good-divorce-says-us-study/