The pediatrician's role in children's adjustment to divorce

Abstract

Until recently, children's adjustment to divorce has been considered to be primarily a function of variables within the child. Such factors as age and sex of the child have been assumed to be the predominant influences on the child's adaptation? ,2 Researchers have failed to recognize the influence of processes external to the child on the adjustment process. Hostility between parents, environmental changes brought about by the divorce (e.g., moving, changing schools and peer groups, decrease in time spent with both parents), parenting skills, and parent adjustment are among the significant adjustment influences identified in recent studies. 3-5 Although a greater appreciation for external influences on children's divorce adjustment is conveyed in the later researchl broader environmental influences are often forgotten. The extent to which professional and cultural attitudes about child custody and divorce litigation shape divorce decisions and, subsequently, child adjustment is largely ignored in the research literature. For example, the tender years doctrine and its assumption that mothers are the best custodians of young children appear to shape the behavior of many professionals. Yet the validity of this position and the scope of its impact on the custody decision-making process remain unstudied. Finally, this persPective is problematic, particularly in light of recent efforts to prevent psychopathologic conditions in children of divorced parents. 6