In a review of the records of some 400 children referred for outpatient psychiatric evaluation, children of divorce appeared at nearly twice the rate of their occurrence in the general population. Age and sex of the child patient were found to relate substantially to parental status, and to be significantly associated with type of presenting symptom. It is suggested that earlier research into the relationship between symptomology and history of divorce may have been marred by failure to take into account age and sex factors.

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The literature on children of divorce presents three theories on the relationship between a child's age at divorce and subsequent adaptation. Outpatient evaluations of 144 children of divorce, ranging in age from seven to 17 years, were coded for nature of emotional-behavioral problems and overall degree of psychological adjustment. Divorce timing was unrelated to overall level of adjustment, but was associated significantly with different constellations of emotional-behavioral difficulties.

Research and clinical work with children of divorce have focused primarily on parental separation as a traumatic event and its effects on children as a crisis situation. The present paper, based on clinical experience, considers potential long-term problems of these children in key developmental areas: handling anger and aggression, separation-individuation, and gender identity. Implications for prevention and service delivery are presented.

Six hypotheses to explain how divorce may affect the trajectory of child development were tested using standardized measures and sociodemographic data. Correlational and multiple regression analyses revealed that the parent adjustment hypothesis received the strongest support. Boys appeared sensitive to events and behavior in their mothers' lives, while girls seemed attuned to mothers' internal states.