Jacob Huddleson

Mrs. Bell

English 1201

25 October 2019

Online Casebook

The essay will seek to answer what the most impactful source of stress is for children

who have gone through a divorce. Given how common divorce is nowadays, it is important to

understand the sources of their stress. It contributes heavily to mental health issues, as well as

relationship troubles further in an individual’s life. If the sources could be narrowed down, which

one is most destructive? If they cannot be narrowed down, what can parents do to make these

troubling times less tumultuous?

Benson, Harry. “When, and Why, Divorce Hurts Kids.” Institute for Family Studies, 16 Sept.

2014, https://ifstudies.org/blog/when-and-why-divorce-hurts-kids.

This article was written by Harry Benson, the Communications Director of the Marriage

Foundation. Entitled “When, and Why, Divorce Hurts Kids” from September 16th 2014, Benson

explains how children see the aftermath of divorce, and how the cooperation of the parents has

little impact on the pain the children experience. A lack of support as a result of single parent

incomes results in a lack of overall support for the child. Divorce can also have the child’s sense

of fault in the divorce clouded, leading to shame and pessimistic outlook on other relationships.

The article is an analysis of a study stating the impact of parental cooperating when it comes to

stress in children. This analysis being posted on the Institute for Family Studies’ website cements
this article as an informative piece. I will use this piece as an argument on how children perceive

divorce. Since the divorce is not made better or worse for the children

Coughlan, Sean. “Divorce 'Damages Children's GCSEs'.” BBC News, BBC, 24 Nov. 2014,

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-30177051.

Sean Coughlan, a BBC News correspondent focused in education, had assembled this

article called “Divorce ‘damages children’s GSCEs’ on November 24th 2014. Coughlan’s article

covered the far-reaching effects of divorce in relation to GSCE (General Certificate of

Education) exam scores. The emotional stressors and the behavioral shift as a result of the

divorce affected not only test scores, but mental health, responsible lifestyle habits, and

delinquent behavior. With divorce being so common now, even getting a degree for secondary

education in the UK is profoundly more challenging for those who must endure it. Coughlin’s

persuasive use of pathos, constant references to the testimony of children through data, as well as

the opinions of different authority really contribute to the validity of this article. This article is

very useful for its analysis on how long lasting the effects of estranged relationships between

parents and the child are. Its measure of success and stability through childhood by using results

of an academic exam really contribute to my thesis.

D'Onofrio, Brian, and Robert Emery. “Parental Divorce or Separation and Children's Mental

Health.” World Psychiatry : Official Journal of the World Psychiatric Association

(WPA), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2 Jan. 2019,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313686/.

Brain D’Onofrio and Robert Emery, both professors in psychology, wrote this article for

World Psychiatry. Entitled “Parental Divorce or Separation and Children’s Mental Health,” the
article covers the general psychological issues that come up as a result of divorce. Such issues

include adolescent developmental problems, such as depression or drug use, the consequences of

ineffective parenting, post-divorce, the stressors placed on a child after divorce, and many other

factors. With its credible sources and its in depth analysis on the basics on mental health

consequences of divorce in children, this is an excellent foundation for my research. It articulates

my stance on the issue of the stressors of divorce on children perfectly.

Goisis, Alice, et al. “Do Children Carry the Weight of Divorce?” SpringerLink, Springer US, 11

June 2019, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-019-00784-4.

Alice Goisis, an associate professor of Demography at UCL, constructed this study

looking at the relationship between the separation of parents and the Body Mass Index (BMI) of

children involved in said separation. Entitled “Do Children Carry the Weight of Divorce?”

Goisis found that BMI in children deviated more and more as time went on, beginning with little

impact, and eventually scaling to more drastic levels. This process takes between two to three

years to become more noticeable. Physical health is often overlooked when analyzing the well

being of children post-divorce, which really shows an alternative lens by which to view divorce

consequences. By taking account for socioeconomic status, as well as health before and after the

divorce, Goisis takes great care to gather data in a valid manner. This study is quite useful for

examining beyond the mental health of children. Given how physical health and mental health

work in tandem with each other, looking beyond the brain and examining how the body operates

will give my paper a more thoughtful, analytical approach.

Keenan, M. “Children of Divorced Parents.” Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health,

2019. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=98402248&site=eds-live.

Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health’s Keenan M. wrote this compilation of research

entitled “Children of divorced parents” Providing a wealth of research on divorce rates, common

reasons for divorce, factors determining how strenuous divorce can be, and many other topics,

this piece is purely informative. It even covers some counterarguments to common talking

points. The intended audience of this research casts a large net for its audience, ranging from

fellow researchers, families going through divorce, or even family therapists looking for

fundamental information. This source will serve as an excellent foundation for my research,

given how it covers the basics of divorce. The importance of barebones facts cannot be

overstated.

Petter, Olivia. “Divorce Most Likely to Cause Emotional Damage to Children Aged Seven to 14,

Study Finds.” Independent, 17 Jan. 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/life-

style/divorce-children-age-effects-emotional-damage-university-college-london-study-

a8732241.html.

Olivia Petter, a lifestyle writer at Independent, wrote an article discussing the finds of a

study from University College London; it was done so to critically analyze a . This study

claims that children between the ages of seven to fourteen who go through divorce often

deal with emotional or behavioral problems, even more so than other children that go

through divorce. Such problems include anxiety, disobedience, and other emotional or

conduct disorders. This is likely due to the development of children’s relationships at

school, and how finicky they can be. This is a great article displaying the behavioral shift
 in children post-divorce. Given how tough a divorce can be on a child, developing into a

well-behaved adult may have more speedbumps than a married family.

Shafer, Kevin, et al. “Divorce Stress, Stepfamily Stress, and Depression among Emerging Adult

Stepchildren.” Journal of Child & Family Studies, vol. 26, no. 3, Mar. 2017, pp. 851–

862. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10826-016-0617-0.

This study, entitled “Divorce Stress, Stepfamily Stress, and Depression among Emerging

Adult Stepchildren.” shows the effects of stress not only in divorced families, but in the

formation of stepfamilies afterwards, as well as issues following adult stepchildren. By

measuring many factors in the lives of children going through divorce, alongside the stepfamily

life afterwards, they discovered an increase in depressive mindsets, family stress, and general life

stress. This data shows that the disassembly of a mother-father relationship cannot be repaired by

a new step parent; stress perseveres and leads to several mental health issues. This will be useful

in my paper to explain how more factors are at play when considering the stress levels and

consequences than meets the eye. Life with different adult relationships around has a great effect

on the functioning of children.