The Effects of Divorce on Children - Family Research Council

B. Increased Abuse and Neglect
Child abuse is closely related to later delinquency, violence, and crime, 251 and
childhood abuse is more likely in the context <strong>of</strong> parental divorce. 252 Subjection to
pre-pubertal sexual contact is more common among children who have experienced
their parents’ divorce, 253 and individuals who had experienced sexual abuse
were significantly more likely than those who had not experienced sexual abuse to
have experienced an “adverse childhood event,” (such as parental divorce). 254
Child neglect, which is frequently more psychologically damaging than physical
abuse, 255 is much more commonly present in families <strong>of</strong> separated and divorced
persons than <strong>of</strong> married persons. 256
Abuse is much higher among stepchildren (divorced and remarried) than among
children <strong>of</strong> intact families. One study <strong>of</strong> Brazilian families reported that higher
abuse rates in stepfamilies with stepfathers were attributable to higher incidence
<strong>of</strong> mothers abusing their children. This study reported that children in
stepfamilies with stepfathers were 2.7 times more likely to be abused than
children in biologically intact households. 257
251 Cathy Spatz Widom, “<strong>The</strong> Cycle <strong>of</strong> Violence,” Science 244 (1989): 160-166. As cited in Patrick
Fagan, “<strong>The</strong> Child Abuse Crisis: <strong>The</strong> Disintegration <strong>of</strong> Marriage, Family, and the American
Community,” Backgrounder 1115 (Washington, D.C.: <strong>The</strong> Heritage Foundation, 3 June 1997).
252 Maxia Dong, Robert F. Anda, Vincent J. Felitti, Shanta R. Dube, David F. Willamson, <strong>The</strong>odore
J. Thompson, Clifton M. Loo, and Wayne H. Giles, “<strong>The</strong> interrelatedness <strong>of</strong> multiple forms
<strong>of</strong> childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction,” Child Abuse & Neglect 28 (2004): 771–
784; William J. Oliver, Lawrence R. Kuhns, Elaine S. Pomeranz, “Family structure and child
abuse,” Clinical Pediatrics 45 (2006): 111–118. As cited in Tracie O. Afifi, Jonathan Boman,
William Fleisher, and Jitender Sareen, “<strong>The</strong> Relationship between Child Abuse, Parental <strong>Divorce</strong>,
and Lifetime Mental Disorders and Suicidality in a Nationally Representative Adult
Sample,” Child Abuse and Neglect 33 (2009): 140.
253 Patrick Leung, Russell L. Curtis, Jr., and Susan C. Mapp, “Incidences <strong>of</strong> Sexual Contacts <strong>of</strong>
Children: Impacts <strong>of</strong> Family Characteristics and Family Structure from a National Sample,”
Children and Youth Services Review 32 (2010): 654.
254 Maxia Dong, Robert F. Anda, Shanta R. Dube, Wayne H. Giles, and Vincent J. Felitti, “<strong>The</strong>
Relationship <strong>of</strong> Exposure to Childhood Sexual Abuse to Other Forms <strong>of</strong> Abuse, Neglect, and
Household Dysfunction during Childhood,” Child Abuse and Neglect 27 (2003): 632.
255 Byron Egeland, L. Alan Sroufe, and Martha Erickson, “<strong>The</strong> developmental consequence <strong>of</strong>
different patterns <strong>of</strong> maltreatment,” Child Aubse and Neglect 7, no. 4 (1983): 459-469; Debbie
H<strong>of</strong>fman-Plotkin and Craig T. Twentyman, “A Multimodal Assessment <strong>of</strong> Behavioral and
Cognitive Deficits in Abused and Neglected Preschoolers,” Child Development 55, no. 3 (1984):
794-802. As cited in Richard Emery, “Abused and Neglected Children,” <strong>The</strong> American
Psychologist 44 (1989): 324.
256 Yuriko Egami, “Psychiatric Pr<strong>of</strong>ile and Sociodemographic Characteristics <strong>of</strong> Adults Who
Report Physically Abusing or Neglecting Children,” American Journal <strong>of</strong> Psychiatry 153 (1996):
925.
257 Gisele Caldas Alexandre, Paulo Nadanovsky, Caludia Leite Moraes, and Michael Reichenheim,
“<strong>The</strong> Presence <strong>of</strong> a Stepfather and Child Physical Abuse, as Reported by a Sample <strong>of</strong> Brazilian
Mothers in Rio de Janeiro,” Child Abuse and Neglect 34 (2010): 963.
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