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be a healthy response for children who have become realistically estranged, a choice
not possible in the married family ( Kelly & Johnston, 2001). Some youngsters avoid
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Chapter 6 " Divorce and Remarriage 217
or reluctantly visit mentally ill parents or those whose disinterest, extreme narcissism,
or selfishness interferes with meaningful parent-child relationships. Still other children
refuse to visit after separation because they are alienated from a parent with whom they
previously had an adequate or better relationship (Gardner, 1998). Although Gardner
described this pathological adaptation primarily as the result of an alienating parent s
efforts to sabotage the child s other parent-child relationship, a more recent formulation
portrays the behaviors of the rejected parent as contributing also to the child s alien-
ation ( Johnston, in press; Kelly & Johnston). Mostly, these children ( preadolescents and
adolescents) are responding to a complex set of factors following separation, including
the parents personality problems and parenting deficits; the hostile, polarizing, and
denigrating behaviors of the parents, which encourages alienation; the child s own psy-
chological vulnerabilities and anger; and the extreme hostility generated by the divorce
and the adversarial process ( Johnston; Kelly & Johnston).
Economic Opportunities
Whereas contradictory findings exist (e.g., Braver & O Connell, 1998), most scholars
report that divorce substantially reduces the standard of living for custodial parents
and children, and to a lesser extent, the nonresident parent ( Duncan & Hoffman, 1985).
Census bureau surveys show that one third of custodial parents entitled to support by
court order are not receiving it (San Francisco Chronicle, 2002). Although divorce has
generally been blamed for this decline in income, it also is apparent that marriages that
end in divorce are more likely to have lower incomes prior to separation compared with
parents who did not divorce in the same period (Clarke-Stewart, Vandell, McCartney,
Owen, & Booth, 2000; Pong & Ju, 2000, Sun, 2001). Divorce further accelerates the
downward standard of living. The consequences of reduced economic circumstances
may be a significant stressor for many children through disruptive changes in residence,
school, friends, and child care arrangements. Booth and Amato (2001) found that 46% of
young adults recalled moving in the year following separation, and 25% reported chang-
ing schools. On average, the women in the Virginia longitudinal study moved four times
in the first 6 years, but poorer women moved seven times ( Hetherington & Kelly, 2002).
Additionally, because child support generally is structured to pay for the basic necessities,
children may not be able to participate in sports, lessons, and organizations that brought
significant meaning to their lives prior to separation. This is particularly true if there are
limited resources, high parent conflict, and poor cooperation.
Remarriage and Repartnering
Divorce creates the potential for children to experience a continuing series of changes
and disruptions in family and emotional relationships when one or both parents intro-
duce new social and sexual partners, cohabitate, remarry, and /or redivorce. The effect of
serial attachments and losses may hinder more mature and intimate attachments as young
adults. Estimates suggest that three quarters of divorced men and two thirds of divorced
women eventually remarry ( Bumpass, Sweet, & Castro-Martin, 1990), and 50% of di-
vorced adults cohabit before remarriage, whereas others cohabit instead of remarriage.
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218 Part II " Sex and Gender
It is estimated that approximately one third of children will live in a remarried or cohabi-
tating family before the age of 18 ( Bumpass, Raley, & Sweet, 1995). For some, these new
relationships are accompanied by family conflict, anger in the stepparent-child relation-
ship, and role ambiguities ( Bray, 1999; Hetherington & Clingempeel, 1992). Repartner-
ing may be most stressful and problematic for children when entered into soon after
divorce ( Hetherington & Kelly, 2002).
DIVORCE AS RISK FOR CHILDREN
A large body of empirical research confirms that divorce increases the risk for adjust-
ment problems in children and adolescents (for reviews, see Amato, 2000; Emery, 1999;
Hetherington, 1999; Kelly, 2000, McLanahan, 1999; Simons et al., 1996). Children of
divorce were significantly more likely to have behavioral, internalizing, social, and aca-
demic problems when compared with children from continuously married families. The
extent of risk is at least twice that of children in continuously married families ( Hether-
ington, 1999; McLanahan; Zill, Morrison, & Coiro, 1993). Although 10% of children
in continuously married families also have serious psychological and social problems, as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]