Divorce and the Adjustment of Children

Abstract

1. E. Mavis Hetherington, PhD* 1. *Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia Department of Psychology, Charlottesville, Va After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the demographic changes associated with shifting patterns of couple relationships. 2. Identify the challenges, changes, and stresses associated with divorce, life in a single-parent family, and remarriage. 3. Delineate vulnerability and protective factors that influence children’s adjustment following divorce. 4. Identify the patterns of children’s adjustment following divorce and remarriage. 5. Discuss intervention strategies for divorcing families. Lynne was 4 years old and her brother David 8 years old when their parents, Marcia and George, divorced following an unhappy, contentious marriage and an acrimonious break-up. The conflict continued in the first year following divorce, as Marcia and George argued, often in front of the children, about money, visitation, and parental rights and responsibilities. Marcia, who had custody of the children, initially felt overwhelmed by the challenges of a dramatic decline in income; erratic support payments; and raising two anxious, confused, angry children alone. George remarried 1 year after the divorce, had a new child, and moved out of state. Although George had been close to David, he gradually drifted out of the children’s lives. At first he phoned, sent gifts, and saw the children for brief unsatisfying visits in the summer, but as distance and a new family took its toll, even these contacts ceased. Much to her surprise after the initial turbulence of the break-up, Marcia found herself happier in her new life. Her physical and mental health improved. Visits to the doctor were less frequent, and depressive symptoms that had immobilized her in the last years of her marriage abated. She developed competencies as she went back to school, got a better job, and became a more competent parent without a spouse who undermined her discipline. Parenting Lynne always had been easier than parenting David, and Lynne and her mother became closer …