Divorce Has Two Major Effects on Children; Depression and Behavior Problems.

Essay by spiritladyUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, June 2005

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Divorce Has Two Major Effects on Children; Depression and Behavior Problems.

Divorce in today's society is very common. Divorce also has terrible and lasting effects on children. In today's society, marriages are less likely to last as they did 20 years ago. There are over 1 million children that suffer each year because of the divorce of their parents (Fagan). Currently there are 8 million children that live with a divorced single parent (Fagan). "Moreover, half of all children born to married parents this year will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach their 18th birthday. This fact alone should give policymakers and those whose careers focus on children reason to pause" (Fagan). When things are not working in a marriage, it is usually because of a breakdown of communication, common goals, or trust, and often this starts the process of a divorce (Fagan). A divorce is a very painful process with detrimental effects on children that are involved.

Whatever the child's age is when the divorce takes place, it will affect how much trauma that child will endure. "Social science research reveals that the effects of divorce not only impact a child into adulthood, but they also affect the next generation of children as well"(Linaman).

There are two major effects on children; they are depression and behavior problems (Linaman). The psychological effects are normally considered long term and the hardest to deal with for children involved. The easiest of all effects of a divorce is a child's behavioral outburst normally displaying aggression and a feeling of not caring about anything or anyone anymore (Linaman). When parents are going through a divorce, they feel the need to protect their children from pain and anguish. Unfortunately, this is impossible. Divorce causes children to go through a number of mixed...