LONG LASTING EFFECTS OF DIVORCE
[From the Smart Marriages listserv, posting "Military Marriages/UK Marriage Rate/Effects of Divorce/Candidate Watch - 2/23/07"]
> Children of Divorce Still Feel Effects Twenty Years Later
> February 22, 2007
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FamilyResults of Parental Relationships Seen Across Multiple Generations
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Los Angeles - infoZine -
A new study has shown that the effects of divorce on
> children may last for decades, influencing family relationships across
> multiple generations. Parental conflict, remarriage and long-term parental
> absence due to divorce can each have long-term effects on children. The study
> appears in the March issue of Family Process.
> > "This study clearly shows that families do not dissolve after divorce," says > author Constance Ahrons. "They change in their structure, but relationships > continue and are important to children's well-being throughout their lives." > The study results show that how children of divorce relate to their > grandparents, stepparents and siblings is associated with how their divorced > parents relate to each other. > > Ahrons says that more researchers need to speak with children directly when > studying the short-term and long-term effects of divorce. "Children's voices > often become muted in our research when we use only objective measurement and > rely solely on numbers to describe their responses," says Ahrons. "How > children perceive the effect of their parents' divorce and the resulting > changes in their lives is central to understanding the personal experience of > divorce and its impact." > > The findings from this landmark study have serious implications for divorcing > parents and for divorce-related policy-making. This study supports the need > for policies, laws and programs that are aimed at decreasing conflict between > divorcing parents. > > This study is published in the March issue of Family Process And, Ahron's conclusion is "the need for policies, laws and programs aimed at decreasing conflict between divorcing parents"!?? Why not policies, laws and programs aimed at decreasing divorce? Or at decreasing the mismanagement of conflict between parents that leads to divorce?? - diane
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