University of FloridaSolutions for Your Life

Download PDF
Publication #FAR4004

 

Five Effects of Divorce on Children 1

Kate Fogarty2

Figure 1. 
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Research on noncustodial fathers finds they often feel left out because they miss out on the everyday, regular events in their children's lives (Clark & McKenry 1997). Ideally, joint custody is the best arrangement for parents who separate or divorce (Seltzer 1998). However, the majority of custody agreements limit the opportunities for noncustodial parents to spend quality time with their children (Lamb 2002).

Michael Lamb, a known scholar on fatherhood, notes five factors that influence how parental divorce affects children. One is the degree of involvement and relationship quality between children and their residential parent. It's important for children to receive emotional support from the parent they see the most. Second is how involved noncustodial parents are with their children, both before and after divorce. As a noncustodial parent, making every effort to stay positively involved in a child's life is important and well worth the trouble. Third, the amount of conflict between parents determines the child's reactions to a divorce. Likewise, conflict between parents and their children may also increase as a result of divorce. Last, changes in amount of monetary and educational resources the child has available also influence how well children adjust to a divorce (Lamb 2002).

Parents who are aware of these factors and how they can respond to them can have a significant impact on their children's adjustment to divorce.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our website at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/5.mp3

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/5.wav

References

Clark, K., & McKenry, P. C. (1997). Unheard voices: Divorced fathers without custody. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Family Relations and Human Development, Ohio State University, Columbus.

Lamb, M. E. (2002). Nonresidential fathers and their children. In C.S. Tamis-LeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 169-184). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Seltzer, J. A. (1998). Father by law: Effects of joint legal custody on nonresident fathers' involvement with children. Demography, 35, 135-146.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR4004, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 205 and published February 2008. Revised May 2008. Reviewed March 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Kate Fogarty, assistant professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.