The Effects of Divorce on Children - Family Research Council

experienced a transition are predicted to never end a marriage, compared to those
who experienced three or more transitions, whose likelihood to never divorce is
about 33 percent. 166
Daughters <strong>of</strong> divorced parents divorce more than sons <strong>of</strong> divorced parents do. 167
<strong>The</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> divorce in the first five years is 70 168 to 76 169 percent higher for the
daughters <strong>of</strong> divorced parents than for daughters <strong>of</strong> intact marriages. 170
Marital Behaviors. Parental divorce is also associated with lower marital
quality for their children. This manifests itself in arguing more about the
family, 171 increased rates <strong>of</strong> jealousy, moodiness, infidelity, conflicts over money,
excessive drinking, and drug use. 172 Analysis <strong>of</strong> the 1987-1988 wave <strong>of</strong> the
National Survey <strong>of</strong> Families and Households showed that children <strong>of</strong> divorce
whose marriages were less than “very happy” communicated less and were more
than twice as likely to argue frequently and to shout and hit when they argued. 173
<strong>The</strong> child with an available father, both in the early and the adolescent years, is
more companionable and responsible as an adult. 174 In particular, “boys who feel
close to their fathers, regardless <strong>of</strong> biological status, have better attitudes about
intimacy and the prospect <strong>of</strong> their own married lives than boys who do not feel
close to their fathers.” 175
166
Nicholas H. Wolfinger, “Beyond the Intergenerational Transmission <strong>of</strong> <strong>Divorce</strong>: Do People
Replicate the Patterns <strong>of</strong> Marital Instability <strong>The</strong>y Grew Up With?” Journal <strong>of</strong> Family Issues
21, no. 8 (2000): 1075.
167
Norval D. Glenn and Kathryn B. Kramer, “<strong>The</strong> Marriages and <strong>Divorce</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the Children <strong>of</strong>
<strong>Divorce</strong>,” Journal <strong>of</strong> Marriage and Family 49 (1987): 811-825.
168
Paul R. Amato, “Explaining the Intergenerational Transmission <strong>of</strong> <strong>Divorce</strong>,” Journal <strong>of</strong>
Marriage and Family 58 (1996): 628.
169
Paul R. Amato and Alan Booth, A Generation at Risk (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1997), 115.
170 According to Amato and Booth’s research, the risk is highest when the divorce takes place
before the child reaches age 13. <strong>The</strong> risk that the child will divorce decreases significantly when
their parents’ divorce takes place during the teen years. Finally, parental divorce when their
<strong>of</strong>fspring are in their twenties may even inoculate them against divorce. See Paul Amato,
“Explaining the Intergenerational Transmission <strong>of</strong> <strong>Divorce</strong>,” Journal <strong>of</strong> Marriage and Family 58
(1996): 638.
171 Susan G. Timmer and Joseph Ver<strong>of</strong>f, “Family Ties and the Discontinuity <strong>of</strong> <strong>Divorce</strong> in Black
and White Newlywed Couples,” Journal <strong>of</strong> Marriage and Family 62 (2000): 349-361.
172 Paul R. Amato and Stacy Rogers, “A Longitudinal Study <strong>of</strong> Marital Problems and Subsequent
<strong>Divorce</strong>,” Journal <strong>of</strong> Marriage and Family 59 (1997): 621.
173 Pamela S. Webster, Terri L. Orbuch, and James S. House, “<strong>Effects</strong> <strong>of</strong> Childhood Family
Background on Adult Marital Quality and Perceived Stability,” American Journal <strong>of</strong> Sociology
101 (1995): 404-432.
174 John Snarey, How Fathers Care for the Next Generation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1993), 163-164.
175 Sharon C. Risch, Kathleen M. Jodl, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles, “Role <strong>of</strong> the Father-Adolescent
Relationship in Shaping Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward <strong>Divorce</strong>,” Journal <strong>of</strong> Marriage and the
Family 66 (2004): 55.
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