The decision of two grown-up people to break up and live separately impacts both of them mentally, economically, and even physically.
You can only imagine the scale of influence that’s done on their kids: the whole world seems to shatter since dad and mom are divorcing.
But that’s only a thought on the surface of our mind that we get when we think about families being ruined as a result of divorce: the long-term effects of divorce on a child are still to be discovered deeply.
In this post, you’ll find out what is known so far about the impact of marriage dissolution on kids.
The effects of divorce on children’s emotions
First of all, a short-term impact that marriage dissolution has on kids is shifts in their emotional state.
Children become more emotionally labile: they don’t understand why their parents won’t live together anymore, why they live with one of them and only visit the other, why they can’t do things they’re used to with both parents simultaneously, etc.
As a result, kids can become more nervous and rude, and less attentive during a divorce.
Also, the changes in children’s emotional stability are associated with the change in their everyday lives: after the parents’ divorce, many of them have to move to another place, switch schools, leave their previous social circle and get a new one, and so on.
A rare kid can go with it without stressing out and being unbearable in terms of emotions. Therefore, what you need to do here is try to help your child transition with fewer altercations and pushing and more understanding and support.
Divorce blurs the bond between children and their visiting parents
Unfortunately, after the divorce children have to live with their main custodian, while the visiting parent sees them less often than before.
That being said, kids stay with their mothers and see their fathers on weekends. Due to such a situation, the communication between fathers and children becomes more distant, and over time, they may feel detached from each other.
What can you do to avoid it? Joint custody where a kid lives one week after the other in the mother’s and father’s houses may seem a way out but it’s not: constant moving will decrease the overall feeling of safety and stability in children.
Therefore, trying to provide a room for communication between kids and the visiting parent should become the main task of both spouses going through a PA online divorce.
Divorce decreases the level of kids’ living
Besides the long-term psychological effects of divorce on children, their physical level of living also decreases due to the family split.
Since the family isn’t living together anymore, kids may need to move to a smaller house in a less fancy neighborhood, have less pocket money, etc.
Now that their mother has to carry out all household things on her own, she may be short of money to buy everything for her kids as she used to when she was married.
Although the father should provide support, it often turns out to be less than the expenditures on kids during the marriage.
Luckily, it can be a short-term effect of divorce until the mother finds a better job or meets another man to marry.
Divorce causes behavioral issues
Another negative thing about the divorce effects for children is the changes it brings to their behavior.
Due to the parents divorcing, kids may feel more irritated and therefore have more conflicts with their friends and instructors at school.
Children can also demonstrate the increasing desire for taking risks and exposing themselves to danger: riding a car at high speed, climbing roofs, etc.
Some of their activities may even interfere with the law, so parents have to be extra careful about their children during the divorce.
The impact of divorce on children’s academic performance
The last, but not least thing to mention is the influence of divorce on children’s studying.
Besides the overall decrease in academic performance that you may notice in your kids, they can become less attentive and interested in the process of getting knowledge.
As a result, kids may get lower scores on exams and have trouble continuing their studies.
Luckily, it’s also in parents’ hands to prevent these issues: what you have to do is just pay more attention to your child’s life, including their academic success.
It may seem overwhelming during a divorce, but you have to keep your kid’s studying in your sight as well.
To make this possible, schedule a couple of hours per week to talk with your child about their studying and academic goals, and provide them with the help they need, e.g., find them a tutor in a certain subject.
As you can see, a divorce has a lot of effects on small kids and teens; however, parents do have a possibility to affect those outcomes and change them for the better.
With the necessary support, attention, and love you can do what it takes to help your child get through this traumatic event.