Answer to Question 1
The vast majority of children and adolescents whose parents divorce eventually adjust to this family transition and display healthy patterns of psychological adjustment (Hetherington & Kelly, 2002). Nevertheless, even well-adjusted children of divorce may show some lingering after effects. In one longitudinal study, children from divorced families were still very negative in the assessment of the impact of divorce on their lives when interviewed more than 20 years after the divorce (Wallerstein & Lewis, as cited by Fernandez, 1997). As adults, children of divorce report more depressive symptoms and lower levels of life satisfaction (Heatherington & Kelly, 2002; Segrin, Taylor, & Altman, 2005). A common source of dissatisfaction is a perceived loss of closeness with their parents, especially with fathers (Emery, 1999; Woodward, Fergusson, & Belsky, 2000). Another interesting long-term reaction is that adolescents from divorced families are more likely than those from nondivorced families to fear that their own marriages will be unhappy (Franklin, Janoff-Bulman, & Roberts, 1990). There may well be some basis for this concern, for adults whose parents divorced are more likely than adults from intact families to experience an unhappy marriage and a divorce themselves (Amato, 1996).
In sum, divorce tends to be a most unsettling and troubling life eventone that few children feel very positive about, even after 20 years have elapsed. But despite the gloomy portrait of divorce we have painted here, there are more encouraging messages. First, researchers are consistently finding that children in stable, single-parent (or step-parent) homes are usually better adjusted than those who remain in conflict-ridden two-parent families. In fact, many of the behavior problems that children display after a divorce are actually evident well before the divorce and may often be more closely related to long-standing family conflict than to the divorce itself (Amato & Booth, 1996; Shaw, Winslow, & Flanagan, 1999). Take away the marital discord and the breakdown in parenting often associated with divorce, and the experience, while always stressful, need not always be damaging. So today's conventional wisdom holds that unhappily married couples who have unreconcilable differences might well divorce for the good of the children. That is, children are likely to benefit if the ending of a stormy marriage ultimately reduces the stress they experience and enables either or both parents to be more sensitive and responsive to their needs (Booth & Amato, 2001; Hetherington, Bridges, & Insabella, 1998). A second encouraging message is that not all divorcing families experience all the difficulties described. In fact, some adults and children manage this transition quite well and may even grow psychologically as a result of it.
Answer to Question 2
B
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