Impact of Divorce on Human Growth and Development - Literature review Example

 Impact of Divorce on Human Growth and Development Introduction In the culture of the US, divorce has become commonplace. A substantial amount of research has been conducted with regard to this phenomenon and its influence on children. Quite a few of these research studies have disclosed that children tend to experience distress, due to the divorce of their parents. Nevertheless, such distress, in most of the instances, does not result in pathology. A large amount of research has been conducted, with respect to the notion of resilience[Mat08]. This provides important insights into the manner in which people address adversity and distress. Divorce is veritably a family stressor that cripples the family system. Frequently, it causes chronic anxiety and the affected family members will be hard pressed to defuse the unbearable tension. An adolescent, who is susceptible, could be seriously affected by the crisis in the family. This development permits the quarreling parents to concentrate on the pathology of the adolescent, thereby diverting attention from their private squabbles[Pol08]. The US experienced a drastic increase in the rate of divorce and separation, during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. During this time, there was an increase in the number of employed women. There was fluctuation in the relative contribution of spouses to the household income. Despite the enormous amount of research conducted in this area, there is little understanding with regard to the effect of economic resources on marital dissolution[San07]. Literature Review The impact of parental divorce on the development of children has been studied for more than three decades. Several research studies have demonstrated an association between divorce and depression, diminished educational attainment, early assumption of high – risk conduct, and enhanced risk of suicidal behavior. In addition, marital discord is generally accompanied by depression. A number of family studies have shown that there is clear association between parental depression and negative child outcomes[Vou12]. In fact, Cummings and Davies have demonstrated a relationship between parental depression and depression in their children. In addition, parental depression has been seen to produce suicidal tendencies in children, anxiety disorders, dependence on intoxicants, somatic symptoms, disruptive behavior problems, insecure attachment, difficulty in controlling emotions, flawed psychosocial functioning, and problems related to attention and cognition[Vou12]. Moreover, it has been stated by Winnicott that health development is largely dependent on the capacity of the parents to control their aggression and identify with their children. Such identifications enable the parents to respond to the requirements of their children, by making available the cooperation, devotion and stability, necessary for the growth of the latter[Pie09]. In addition, he provides a description regarding the influence of the marital union in managing psychological drives that could prove harmful to the development of the child. It is his considered opinion that the father’s function is to divert from the mother features that could compromise her maternal features. This has to be accomplished by supporting the mother’s positive efforts and by validating the almost incessant demands on her for care[Pie09]. Moreover, the father has to provide the mother with the libidinal support that is necessary for the progression of the child. This causes mothers to derive their emotional support from the husband, and this mitigates their feeling of depletion. If the marital union is incapable of subsuming the excessively potent or psychotic elements of aggressive and libidinal energies, then the children are rendered vulnerable to damage to their ego[Pie09]. Cookston et all., in their article, “Effects of the Dads for Life Intervention on Interparental Conflict and Coparenting in the Two Years After Divorce” have stated that the wellbeing of children, whose parents have been divorced, in the long term, is influenced to a major extent by the ability of their parents to form harmonious co – parenting relationships. There is a dearth of compelling evidence that intervention can alter such a relationship. In this regard a preventive intervention, namely Dads for Life (DFL) was developed by Cookston and his fellow researchers[Coo07]. As per these researchers, this intervention, whose participants were non – custodial parents, had a favorable impact on the wellbeing of the child. Accordingly, conflict was seen to reduce significantly, when the father participated in DFL. It was also observed that the perceptions of co – parentage remained unchanged with the passage of time, in the DFL or in the control conditions. The perception of mothers in the control group, were seen to decline with time. However, mothers whose previous husbands participated in the DFL program depicted tangible growth change with regard to healthier co – parenting. It is the results provided by the reports relating to the mothers that prove to be compelling, since these mothers had not participated in the DFL program; therefore, the courts are provided with an extremely encouraging intervention, on account of the DFL[Coo07]. Another researcher, Warner used the religious coping theory to study the effect of religion and spirituality, on recognized risk factors relating to divorce in the future, among children whose parents had been divorced. This study was conducted with 158 college students whose parents had been divorced. 33% of these participants regarded divorce as the desecration of a sacred covenant, at the time of the divorce. 25% had experienced spiritual struggle at the time of the divorce; and 33% had taken to spirituality to withstand the trauma caused to them at the time of the divorce[War09]. This study detected several correlations between the risk factors for future divorce and these spiritual and religious concepts. Baxter et all., claimed that academic performance is adversely affected and wide – ranging emotional and behavioral adjustment problems arise among children who endure the divorce of their parents. These effects are significantly higher than in families that are intact[Bax11]. All the same, just a few studies on the impact of divorce exclusively study the effect on children. A recent Australian child cohort study has disclosed that there was a definite relationship between the emotional wellbeing of children, the quality of the relationship between the parents, and the involvement of the parents after separation. Among children aged 6 to 7 years, emotional health was superior among those living with both parents than those living with one parent. In this context, hostility among the parents had a major impact on the emotional wellbeing of the children[Bax11]. Kenyon and Koerner utilized longitudinal data from a project dealing with the lives of adolescents and mothers, in the aftermath of divorce. Two issues were addressed in this study. The first of these related to whether there was an adverse effect on the father – adolescent relationship, due to the provision of damaging information by the mother, regarding the father or erstwhile husband. The second issue dealt with the extent to which adolescents with poor emotional control and low emotional autonomy were vulnerable to such exposure[Ken08]. The participants in this study were 154 adolescents between the ages of 12 to 18 years. It was deduced from this study that the bivariate association between maternal negative disclosure and the adolescent – father relationship was not significant. However, the degree of emotional autonomy and inter – reactivity of the adolescent had a moderating effect on the relationship between the negative maternal disclosure and the father – adolescent relationship[Ken08]. Most of the literature on divorce shows that parental divorce has an adverse effect. In fact, the null conjecture of homogenous negative outcomes and the related empirical evidence have been disputed by recent research studies. Some of the more important empirical and theoretical challenges are those of selection perspective, observation regarding the outstanding resilience of the subsidiary population, and subtler approaches to the genuine influences of divorce. These are with regard to confusion resulting from other family processes that take place prior to and subsequent to the divorce[Kim12]. Some instances being marital discord and remarriage. On the basis of certain meta – analyses, scholars have established that the accumulated evidence promotes the view that in comparison to children with continuously married two – biological parents, the children of divorced or separated parents were at a distinct disadvantage. Such drawbacks were evident in the comprehensive reals of life chances; namely, cognitive skills, schooling outcomes, psychosocial wellbeing, and social relations. These negative outcomes, as per the contemporary research, were not diminished to any appreciable extent, by the more liberal attitude towards divorce[Kim12]. Harvey collected data for a decade, regarding the impact of parental divorce. Since, the year 1980, divorce rates have assumed alarming proportions in the US. The vast majority of the citizens of this country will undergo divorce, or separation in a romantic relation. In addition, the outcomes of divorce will affect one and all, either directly or indirectly[Har10]. Conclusion As per Vousoura et al., there is a clear relation between parental depression and a child’s negative outcomes. The study by Cummings and Davies disclosed that children will be affected by suicidal tendencies, and problems, such as disruptive behavior and drug addiction, due to parental depression. In another study by Winnicott child’s health will be affected by the behavior of the parents. As per the study revealed by Cookston et al., fathers’ participation in DFL programs result in positive changes. In a study conducted by Warner, reveals the fact that there is a correlation between the risk factors for future divorce in children and spirituality. Baxter et al., in “Family structure, co – parental relationship quality, post-separation paternal involvement and children's emotional wellbeing”, claimed that educational development would be affected and several behavioral and adjustment problems would arise in children who experience parental divorce, with regard to their parents. In another study, Baxter et al., revealed that the wellbeing of the children depends on the quality of the relationship between the parents. In a study by Kenyon et al., it was demonstrated that the negative disclosures about the father by the mother would affect the adolescent – father relationship. In a study by Kim, it was revealed that the children of divorced parents were at a disadvantage, with respect to several issues, like cognitive skills, school outcomes, and social relations. In another study by Harvey it was disclosed that the outcomes of divorce would affect every member of the family. As per the above discussion, it can be concluded that parental divorce issues will have wide ranging negative effects on the growth and development of the children. These studies have clearly shown that children with divorced parents were significantly in danger of developing depression, suicidal tendencies, addiction to drugs and degradation of cognitive skills, in addition to other negative traits. List of References Mat08: , (Matters, 2008, p. v), Pol08: , (Polacek, 2008, p. 10), San07: , (Sanz, 2007, p. iv), Vou12: , (Vousoura, et al., 2012, p. 718), Vou12: , (Vousoura, et al., 2012, p. 719), Pie09: , (Piemont, 2009, p. 99), Pie09: , (Piemont, 2009, p. 100), Coo07: , (Cookston, Braver, Griffin, de Lusé, & Miles, 2007, p. 123), War09: , (Warner, 2009, p. ii), Bax11: , (Baxter, Weston, & Qu, 2011, p. 86), Ken08: , (Kenyon & Koerner, 2008, p. 791), Kim12: , (Kim, 2011, p. 487), Har10: , (Harvey & Fine, 2010, p. 1), Read More