Trajectories of internalizing, externalizing, and grades for children who have and have not experienced their parents' divorce or separation.

Abstract

This study examined whether the occurrence and timing of parental separation or divorce was related to trajectories of academic grades and mother-and teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. The authors used hierarchical linear models to estimate trajectories for children who did and did not experience their parents' divorce or separation in kindergarten through 10th grade (N = 194). A novel approach to analyzing the timing of divorce/separation was adopted, and trajectories were estimated from 1 year prior to the divorce/separation to 3 years after the event. Results suggest that early parental divorce/separation is more negatively related to trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems than is later divorce/separation, whereas later divorce/separation is more negatively related to grades. One implication of these findings is that children may benefit most from interventions focused on preventing internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas adolescents may benefit most from interventions focused on promoting academic achievement. Keywordsdivorce; family structure; child adjustment; developmental trajectories; behavior problems Parents, clinicians, and policy makers alike are concerned about how experiencing divorce affects children's adjustment. Although the research literature includes sometimes contradictory findings regarding whether and how divorce affects children's adjustment, there is some consensus that children whose parents divorce are at higher risk for a variety of negative Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jennifer E. Lansford, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, Box 90545, Durham, NC 27708-0545. lansford@duke.edu. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript developmental outcomes than are children whose parents do not divorce (for review, see Amato, 2001;Amato & Keith, 1991;Cherlin, 1999).In the literature, there have been two main ways of approaching the examination of children's well-being in relation to parental divorce. The first approach, using either cross-sectional or longitudinal data, has been to examine children's well-being at discrete points in time (e.g., Emery, Waldron, Kitzmann, & Aaron, 1999;Zill, Morrison, & Coiro, 1993). The second approach, which requires several waves of longitudinal data, has been to examine trajectories of well-being over time (Cherlin, Chase-Lansdale, & McRae, 1998;Malone et al., 2004). The first approach has been much more common, even when longitudinal data are available. To adopt the second approach, it is necessary to have data on children's adjustment measured consistently at multiple points in time.There are several reasons to believe that the timing of divorce will be systematically associated with individual differences in children's trajectories of adjustment (e.g., Hetherington & Clingempeel, 1992). Conceptually, it may be that the farther along a given trajectory one is when the divorce occurs, the less likely i...

The cross‐lagged relationship between father absence and child problem behaviour in the early years

“…2006). Our finding that there were few and relatively weak ‘child effects’ is in line with previous UK research that tends to find stronger parent‐to‐child than child‐to‐parent effects, particularly with regard to externalizing behaviour (Steele et al .…”

“…The timing of parents' partnership transitions also appears to be important. For example, Lansford and colleagues (2006), following a sample of children from kindergarten through 10th grade, showed that parental divorce during elementary school was more negatively related to trajectories of children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems than was later divorce, whereas later divorce was more negatively related to children's school grades.…”

Ajustamento da criança à separação ou divórcio dos pais

“…A literatura aponta que crianças de famílias divorciadas estão em risco de apresentar problemas de ajustamento 6,12,13 . A metanálise de Amato e Keith 5 mostra que crianças de pais divorciados, quando comparadas com crianças que vivem em famílias intactas, exibem indicadores de menor bem-estar, incluindo pior realização acadêmica, ajustamento psicológico, autoconceito, relações sociais e qualidade de relacionamento com o pai e a mãe.…”

“…Como outras situações familiares estressantes, o divórcio aumenta a probabilidade de pais e crianças evidenciarem mal-estar psicológico 1,2,5-7 . Reações adversas em vários níveis, assim como sintomas que são comuns nessa fase de transição, têm sido descritas nos mais variados estudos [6][7][8][9][10][11] .A literatura aponta que crianças de famílias divorciadas estão em risco de apresentar problemas de ajustamento 6,12,13 . A metanálise de Amato e Keith 5 mostra que crianças de pais divorciados, quando comparadas com crianças que vivem em famílias intactas, exibem indicadores de menor bem-estar, incluindo pior realização acadêmica, ajustamento psicológico, autoconceito, relações sociais e qualidade de relacionamento com o pai e a mãe.…”

Psychosocial adjustment and physical health in children of divorce

“…Apoiando-se nesta base explicativa, algumas evidên-cias de estudos longitudinais reportam que indivíduos que experienciaram a separação dos pais apresentam mais problemas de internalização e de externalização do que aqueles que nunca vivenciaram uma experiência de separação dos pais 46 .…”