A great deal of social science has been dedicated to tracking the ways that the ends of marriages affect children in Maryland and across the nation. A recent study looked at how kids of divorce fared in their own adult relationships. Researchers wanted to determine whether experiencing a divorce as a child is likely to influence that child’s risk of divorce as an adult.
Researchers found that when it comes to divorce and how children fare as adults, there was one factor that seemed to have a greater impact than the divorce itself. Kids who lived in homes in which parents were regularly in conflict with one another exhibited higher rates of divorce as adults. Those who went through their parents’ divorces did not have higher rates of divorce than kids who lived in low-conflict families in which the parents remained married.
This suggests that kids are more impacted by stress and turmoil in the home than by a divorce itself. Those findings make sense when viewed from a perspective of common sense. When kids are subjected to high levels of tension and strife, they are bound to have negative outcomes associated with that degree of conflict. On the other hand, when parents are able to leave an untenable marriage and move on to a less stressful living scenario, kids are allowed the chance to grow and thrive without those emotional burdens.
For parents in Maryland who are concerned about how their divorces could impact their kids, this research may come as a relief. It appears that going through a divorce does not have as much of an impact on children as living in a home filled with tension. That knowledge may give parents the assurance they need to go ahead and begin taking steps toward happier futures for all involved.
Source: techinsider.com, “One parent behavior may affect kids of divorce more than divorce itself“, Rebecca Harrington, May 22, 2016
