Post-divorce Adjustment of Children and Adolescents
The present chapter is devoted to the factors that influence post-divorce adjustment in the lives of children and adolescents. Whereas ex-spouses are free to make decisions about their lives, children and adolescents from divorced parents find themselves
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Post-divorce Adjustment of Children and Adolescents
3.1
Introduction
The present chapter is devoted to the factors that influence post-divorce adjustment in the lives of children and adolescents. Whereas ex-spouses are free to make decisions about their lives, children and adolescents from divorced parents find themselves in a less favourable situation. They do usually not form part of the decision-making process but are still confronted with all the resulting consequences of divorce. This is where the state has a special function of providing protection and safeguard for children whose parents have separated and file for divorce. From a political perspective of family policy many governments are interested in the consequences of divorce and its related effects on children. Each national legal system has an ethical responsibility to protect children’s rights and act in their best interests.1 Therefore research in this field seems highly relevant because scientific results are suited to found and justify legal and political decision-taking. Knowledge of the factors that put children at risk of maladjustment or else protect them from detrimental consequences of divorce enable experts to take appropriate measures and therapeutic steps with children affected. Services provided by governments may range from counselling, that is made available to families in trouble, to legal assistance for children or mediation offered to couples in conflict.2 As the theme of divorce and its consequences has a high societal relevance, many studies can be found that deal with the effect of divorce on children and adolescents. In the following sections we will give an overview of the changes that children and adolescents are confronted in the post-divorce phase by reviewing relevant scientific studies. These changes concern the economic situation, parental communication and the parent–child relationship. For the description and explanation of the impact of divorce we will use the theoretical approach of the Divorce-StressAdjustment Perspective. Special reference is made to different types of custody regulations and their psychological implications on the offspring. 1
See: Article 39 of the Spanish Constitution. See: Marı´n Lo´pez (2008).
2
M. Gaffal, Psychosocial and Legal Perspectives of Marital Breakdown, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-13896-6_3, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
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3.2
3 Post-divorce Adjustment of Children and Adolescents
Theoretical Perspective
Parents and children usually experience the most stressful time in the period leading to divorce and the time immediately following it. The parents’ disclosure of their intention to separate sets a series of irreversible events into motion. Once the decision to separate has been taken one or both spouses may file for divorce and the legal processes are initiated. Then the legal processes follow and with it the search for a new residence and the redefinition of parental roles. Additionally the higher costs associated with the legal procedure and the change of resid
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