ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the effects of divorce, remarriage, and single parenting on children. It discusses the impact that marriages and divorces of varying quality. The chapter investigates the implications of differences in child outcome by family structure. In a nutshell, children from divorced and single-parent families on the average suffer more from behavioral and psychiatric problems, lower self-esteem, and higher levels of anxiety than children from two-parent families. The processes that lead to negative outcomes can exist in any type of family structure, whether single- or two-parent. They are, however, more likely to occur in the former. Detrimental processes include parental conflict, spousal abuse, stress caused by poverty, and social isolation. School-age children face very much the same situation as young children; although their cognitive level increases, and they may feel less guilt, they are nevertheless quite affected by the parental breakup. In terms of parental remarriage, school-age children adapt better than adolescents.
