Children from incomplete families

a portion of Vatican doc
KIDS: HEALTHIER, WEALTHIER, AND YET WORSE OFF
Report Highlights Increased Dangers Facing Children
 By Father John Flynn, LC

Negative impact

In Scotland a study found that young people in 2006 reported poorer family relationships compared to 1987. It was carried out to find the cause of a substantial increase in psychological distress by 15-year-olds.

Another study, in the United States, followed the experiences of 2,000 married people over 15 years. It found that in marriages with high levels of conflict there were more problems in the relations between parents and children. Marital unhappiness had a negative impact of the children's well-being. Divorce also had a deleterious effect.

Other studies show that divorce is a significant risk factor for children's emotional state and academic performance. One American study also found a connection between parental divorce and the life span of their children. Children from divorced families died almost five years earlier than those from intact marriages.

Moreover, Parkinson pointed out, parental conflict and tensions don't necessarily end with separation and can sometimes even increase, with arguments about the dividing of assets, parenting arrangements and child support.

When it comes to lone-parent families Parkinson referred to a large Australian study that found higher levels of conflict in step-families and single parent families than in intact ones. Step-families in particular stood out for being a source of tension.

Another Australian study looked at the results of divorce on the adult lives of the children whose parents had separated. On all measures of adverse outcomes the children who had experienced divorce had worse outcomes. These ranged from precocious sexual activity, cohabitation and childbirth before the age of 20, and educational results.

One of the results of divorce that has a big impact on children is that many of them have little contact with their father following the separation. One study carried out in 2001 reported that 36% of fathers had not seen their youngest child in the last 12 months.
Depression and poor results at school are associated in adolescents who have infrequent contact with their divorced father, independently of how close they are to their mothers.

one more idea, borrowed by Russian Orthodox Church: ON FRATERNAL CORRECTION