The Effect of Divorce on Children
It is a controversial issue, and there have been conflicting studies on it over the years. However, one thing seems to be quite clear. Divorce no longer guarantees a long term impact in a child's future emotional psychological health.
In other words, if you are a parent considering divorce, there is no reason to believe that with cooperation between you and you and your ex-spouse, you will not be able to help your children deal with the parental separation appropriately. In the past, the myth of children dealing badly with parental divorce, and suffering the long-term emotional fallout of the parental divorce, was widely accepted as fact. Such an impact was possible in the past, because for decades, divorce was looked down upon, and children were stigmatized for being from a broken home. Children of divorced parents found it difficult to blend into social groups.
However in 2014, close to 50% of all American marriages end in divorce, and children of divorced families are not social outcasts, like they would have been a few decades ago. That has contributed to a greater ability go on with their lives normally.
In fact, some studies have shown that the other extreme is true - children whose parents are divorced, seem to not just adjust well, but also show a slightly greater amount of social and emotional adjustment in their adult lives compared to children from intact families.
The one thing that many child psychologists and marriage therapists however agree on is that you should never avoid a divorce for the sake of the children. In the long run, your children will be better off with parents who are divorced and respectful to each other, than living together in an acrimonious marriage.
To discuss child support, alimony, child custody and other matters related to your divorce, speak to a Los Angeles divorce lawyer.