Impacts of Divorce on the Behavior and Adjustment Problems, Parenting Styles, and Attachment Styles of Children

Abstract

In recent years, the most dramatic change in family life has been observed in the rising rate of divorce. Especially in Western countries, more than one million children experience parental divorce and this has given rise to studies that seek answers to the questions of what the possible long-term and short-term effects of divorce on children may be and how they can be coped with. In this study, studies in the Western countries and the restricted number of studies in Turkey, which has a very different cultural background, on the possible adverse effects of divorce on children are reviewed with a view to introducing the existing findings to the relevant literature in Turkey. Within this framework, the impact of divorce on children's behaviour and adjustment problems, the parenting styles they perceive and the attachment styles they develop in the different periods of their lives are examined in the given order. While investigating into the possible effects of divorce on children during their childhood and in the later stages of their lives, the possible interaction of divorce with the variables of age, sex, and perceived social support is taken into consideration. As a result, in the light of the research findings of studies conducted both in the Western countries and in Turkey, it is observed that divorce may have detrimental effects on the levels of behaviour and adjustment problems of children, the parenting styles they perceive and the attachment styles they develop, and that these effects may vary depending on the children's sex, age, and the social support they perceive from their environment. On the other hand, another finding obtained from the study indicates that the possible negative impacts of divorce on children may be alleviated provided that favourable conditions are offered to them in the post-divorce period.