Eaton, M. (2018). Negative Effects of Divorce and Possible Intervention Program Development and Improvement. Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal in Psychology , 13 (1), 34-48. Retrieved from https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1236&context=intuition
Introduction
Divorce has the potential of having long-lasting effects on children impacting on their emotional, physical, mental and social well-being, and academic performance. It is easy to overlook the well-being of children from families that have experienced divorce in comparison to the well-being of their parents. This research set out to identify the adverse effects caused by divorce on children and to set the tone for further research and intervention programs. This research is designed to assess the hypothesis that children from divorced families face emotional, mental, physical and academic effects compared to those in stable families.
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Historical Review
According to the Centre for Disease Control (2014), a staggering 50% of marriages in the United States are estimated to end in divorce. These divorces have proven to be harmful to children mostly as they endure both emotional and physical trauma. The effects of divorce on children may be emotional, physical, mental or even social; this makes it hard for children coming from divorced parents to trust others and form relationships. They struggle with behaviors such as violence and perform poorly in academics compared to children whose parents do not divorce. Most of the research that has been covered however mainly focuses on the negative effects of divorce on children but fails to expound more on different intervention programs and the need for them. These programs are essential for improving parent-child relationships and also help children overcome emotional problems while improving social skills. With these considerations in mind, it was important that the research is undertaken.
Methodology
To gather the data, the researcher used 31 peers reviewed journal articles published between 1990-2017 that touched on the available intervention programs for children affected by divorce. These journals were obtained by searching through social sciences databases such as EBSCO and Scopus for primary research material. The main words used for the search include “effects of divorce” plus “children or youth.” To identify the already existing intervention programs, terms such as “intervention programs for children of divorce” were used. Only the studies that addressed the effect of divorce on children and discussed the qualities of different intervention programs were considered. To narrow down the articles, all studies that exhibited the following characteristics were eliminated.
Focussed more on the effects of divorce on parents than children.
Discussed divorces that were a result of abuse.
Focussed on other types of family disruption.
The twelve articles that were selected mainly focussed on long-term effects of divorce and pointed out the gaps in intervention programs. The different intervention programs that were identified were carefully analyzed and the positive qualities that made them successful were highlighted. This was because of the distinctiveness of the purpose of each intervention program. A truly successful program, however, was one that was able to implement all the components of the five different programs into one component.
Findings
The research findings showed that divorce had emotional effects on children whereby it could lead to stress and anxiety due to the constant conflict between parents. Their social health is also affected as divorce leads to behavioral problems such as increased aggression and poor communication skills, these problems also restrict them from having healthy relationships in the future. Physically, children of divorced parents have a high likelihood of abusing harmful substances such as alcohol and drugs which are all associated with decreasing physical health. These substances have the potential of stunting their learning as they boost addiction. The academic performance of children from divorced families is profoundly affected, this is due to the high tensions and stress at homes that are not only a distraction but do not provide a conducive environment for children to study or rest. Intervention programs to help children cope with this situation are available, however, they are not effective.
The intervention programs identified by the research include in school-programs which are implemented in schools to support, nurture and counsel children whose parents are divorced. An example of the program is the New Beginning Program (NBP) that aims at improving the mental health as well as the relationship between parents and children of divorce. The relationship between a child and parent is affected adversely during divorce; this is because parents are too busy and stressed to focus on their children. Community-based programs are also designed to help children of divorce. An example of one effective program is known as Kids In Divorce Situations (KIDS) which works the same way as NBP. The Children of Divorce Intervention Program (CODIP) is designed to improve the ability of children not only to identify but also express their feelings and emotions. The last intervention program is COPE which assists children from divorced families to develop social interactions with their peers through the incorporation of a peer-modeling component, therefore, improving their social skills. The most common goal of the existing intervention programs is to provide counseling, support, improve the parent-children relationship and improve coping skills in children of divorce.
Implication and Recommendation
The systematic review provides strong evidence that divorce adversely affects children and that there is a need for more and better intervention programs. However, the researcher does not include all the intervention programs and does not mention the success rates of the programs mentioned. It is necessary that more research is conducted to identify precisely the type of program that should be developed and which areas the program should be implemented. The success rates would enable a reader to identify which intervention program was more effective compared to others and would be the most recommendable. The research challenges psychologists mainly, to develop a uniform program that would provide counseling for the children, improve coping skills, a workshop for the parents, increase emotional awareness, improve parent-child relationship, improve social skills, decrease self-blame, and help families overcome challenges that are as a result of changes in caretaking roles. Once this is done, further research should be done on how this program will be implemented in the United States and globally seeing that divorce is a global issue.
Conclusion
This research combines different research done on the adverse outcomes of divorce on children and adds more information to the field regarding different intervention programs. It shows that there are not enough programs to boost the kids’ social skills and this affects their academic performance. Also, researchers are yet to discover a single program that would help children from divorced families to achieve all the components at once. This kind of program if identified could help children from all over the world face the emotional, mental, social and physical setbacks that are as a result of divorce.
References
Eaton, M. (2018). Negative Effects of Divorce and Possible Intervention Program Development and Improvement. Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal in Psychology , 13 (1), 34-48. Retrieved from https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1236&context=intuition
