Qualitative Analysis Of The Short-Term Impact Of Divorce On Children

The American Psychological Association estimates that nearly fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce in America (APA 2017). Even more startling is the further realization that nearly fifty percent of all American children will experience parental divorce at some point throughout their youth (Anthony, DiPerna, and Amato 2014). With divorce becoming more and more common throughout American society, sociologists become increasingly interested in the effects of this phenomenon on the family unit. It can be easy to underestimate the effects that divorce has on the children involved, particularly when it comes to academic success. I believe that many social and cognitive issues arise from children witnessing their parents’ divorce, and that these issues will adversely impact a child’s academic performance in high school. This, ultimately, results in lower scores on standardized tests than those of children of the same demographics and class but with cohabitating parents.
These psychological issues can be both short and long term, not to mention extremely disruptive to a child’s social and cognitive development. In an article entitled, “Qualitative Analysis of the Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of Family Breakdown on Children,” researchers Maria Guinart and MaDolores Grau presented the case study of a Spanish mother and her two daughters after going through a divorce, arguing that familial breakdown causes social and cognitive disorders. The results of this study found that the children involved experienced “sleep disorders, confusion, aggressiveness, behavioral problems, resentment, and fear of abandonment,” among other issues (Guinart and Grau 2014). This study presents just few of many adverse effects that the divorce has on the children