Divorced Parents’ Relocation: Long term Effects on Children
Children
whose parents move more than one-hour drive away after divorce
are significantly less well-off than children whose parents do
not relocate, according to a new study in the Journal of Family
Psychology.
The
researchers found significant differences between students whose
divorced parents relocated and those that did not move, in 11
out of the 14 variables they examined. Compared with divorced
families in which neither parent moved, students from families
in which one parent moved received less financial support from
their parents—even after researchers corrected for differences
in the current financial conditions of the group—and worried
more about that support.
The
students also felt more hostility in their interpersonal relations,
suffered more distress related to their parents’ divorce,
perceived their parents less favorably as sources of emotional
support and as role models, believed the quality of their parents’
relations with each other was worse and rated themselves less
favorably on their general physical health, their general life
satisfaction and their personal and emotional adjustment.
While
the findings suggest negative outcomes for children whose parents
relocate after divorce, the authors note that the results are
correlational and cannot prove that the move-away status solely
resulted in poorer well-being.
Feburary
2003
