Sunday, August 27, 2017

Effects of Parental Separation and Divorce on Very Young Children


According to Robert Emery, a recognized researcher, therapist and mediator, “divorce is invariably painful”.
Every member of the family suffers from the crisis brought by divorce, but in the whole process, it is always the children who suffer a lot. At a very young age, they already have a sense of familial bond. Most of them don’t want their parents to separate which will lead to emotional and mental stress.
Moreover, the children have to withstand the tiring procedure of divorce attorney annapolis md transition. They will be exhausted by the thought of losing everyday contact and interaction with the other parent. It would be difficult for them to cope up with the change in family setting without the daily presence of  other parent.
Yet, it is not the process that troubles the children, it is the degree of emotional and physical conflict between the parents. Hearing the shouting and fighting of their parents, they can definitely feel that something is wrong. Parents should calmly and wisely handle the situation, so that their children can immediately overcome the consequences of divorce and can easily adjust to the new set up.
How does divorce affect the whole being of a child?

Effects of Divorce on Children’s Behavior
It has been evident through numerous research studies that an average of children who are products of divorce tend to have more behavioral problems than children of two-parent families. They often become hard to manage after the divorce because their dependency to their parents increases. They don’t do things that they usually do on their own and seeks help from the parents.
Divorce impairs the ability of the child to handle conflicts and will more likely go violent to resolve problems in the future. They have poor social competence and doesn’t communicate often. Children of divorce could also develop a negative mindset towards marriage. As they witness their parent’s separation, they will perceive that marriage is not significant at all.
Effects of Divorce on Children’s Development
Young children may not be aware about the nature of divorce, but they can feel the change in their environment. They can feel if another person is taking care of them. Such young people need consistent caregiver and physical affection to develop a strong attachment which will definitely affect their future relationships.
Distress is also one negative effect of divorce which might result to changes in sleeping and eating routines as well as irritability.
Other effects of divorce attorney annapolis md on children’s development is separation anxiety, excessive fears, demanding behavior, reunion fantasies, and bad habit regression.
Effects of Divorce on Children’s Health
Most children who had experienced parental divorce, tend to develop health problems, specifically physical and mental complications.
Physical health problems include asthma, and cancer diseases, including pancreas, lungs, esophagus, anus, and cervix. Psychological problems include increased insecurity, sadness, anger, depression, worry, anxiety, fear, rejection, decreased self-confidence, and blaming oneself for parents’ separation. Divorce also triggers the development of mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, mood disorder, and post-traumatic disorder.
There is about 50 percent divorce cases out of all the number of married couples in America and more than one million children suffer from the negative of effects of divorce.

Introducing and instilling divorce as a permanent set up to young children is quite a difficult task. Especially when they still have high hopes that both parents would go back together and they’ll become a complete happy family again. Mind you, kids of younger ages tend to have wide imagination, so often fantasize. Therefore, they cope more slowly to the idea of divorce compared to adolescents. Don’t feed your child any false hopes such as arranging a family gathering and the likes. 

Stress does not only affect a certain age group exclusively. It is experienced by everyone -- from a newborn baby to an adult. Therefore children of very young age can also suffer from stress and divorce can be a very stressful and extremely confusing thing for them. Why? Divorce breaks their usual cycle such as the daily routine within home. “I got to eat breakfast with mommy and daddy tomorrow and the day after that, and so on.” -- surely they think of this before going to bed every night. What was once predictable is now unpredictable and unsure. 

Worst thing can happen. The stress that the child got from the separation of their parents can become constant if not managed and prevented. Most of the children whose parents divorced, blame themselves on why mom and dad broke up and carry the burden and responsibility to find a solution to keep things back the way it used to be. In the long run, as they continue to bear with the stress and pressure, it can negatively affect their perspective of having a family and can cause nightmares as well.
Divorce is a family crisis, but with the right handling of parents, children could positively overcome the problems and avoid future hurdles.

Wise & Donahue, PLC offers divorce attorney Annapolis MD. Call us at 410-280-2023 or Visit us at 18 West Street Annapolis, MD 21401.

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