The divorce rate per 1,000 persons of marriageable age in the United States increased from 1.6 in 1920 to 5.3 in 1981. Since 1981, the rate has declined slightly, reaching 4.8 in 1988. Considered in another context, there was one divorce for every 7.5 marriages in the United States in 1920, while there was one divorce for every two marriages in 1981. Again, since 1981, the situation has improved somewhat, and in 1988, there was one divorce for every 2.02 marriages (U.S. National Center for Health Statistics [USNCHS], 1989).
A great deal of misery lies behind such statistics for all parties concerned with divorces, and a great deal of societal cost is also involved. Both misery and cost are applicable to those victims of divorce who have the least control over the situation. These victims are the minor children of the divorce partners.
The proposed study will examine some of the effects of divorce on some of the minor children of divorce partners. The study population will be comprised of the school-aged children of divorce partners.
An unstable family life, an absence of effective parental involvement, and economic deprivation are but a few of the factors affecting the children of divorce partners. Academic performance, cognitive functioning, social development, and physical and psychological security are but a few of the aspects of a child's life which may be adversely affected by divorce. The effects of divorce on the school-aged children of divorce partners will be investigated in the proposed study.
Booth, Johnson, White, and Edwards, (1986) conducted a study to determine why divorce and marital instability tend to vary by age and marital duration. In pursuit of this objective, interactions between age and marital instability, on the one hand, and a variety of intervening variables, on the other hand, as a cause of divorce and marital instability, were measured and assessed.
Based on theoretical data r...