نوجوانان با تجربه طلاق والدین در دوران کودکی: یک مطالعه طولی از سلامت روان و تنظیم

Abstract **This is a prospective Norwegian study of a group of adolescents with an experience of parental divorce or separation (n=413)(n=413) and a comparison group without this experience (n=1758)(n=1758). Mean age at T1 was 14.4 years and mean age at T2 was 18.4 years. Parental divorce was prospectively associated with a relative change in anxiety and depression, subjective well-being, self-esteem, and school problems. Considering boys separately, parental divorce was prospectively associated only with school problems. Among the girls, divorce was prospectively associated with all variables. The effect of divorce on relative change was partially mediated by paternal absence.

Introduction Children of divorce Despite all the practical and emotional challenges associated with parental separation and divorce, the long-term effects on the children have proved to be small. Most of these children live good lives and manage well (Emery & Forehand, 1994). Still, it is well documented that children of divorce are at an increased risk of various adjustment problems in both childhood and adolescence, and even in adult life. The range of problems include withdrawal, anxiety and depression, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, delinquent behaviour and aggressive behaviour (Liu et al., 2000; Harland, Reijneveld, Brugman, Verloove-Vanhorick, & Verhulst, 2002). As a group, children of divorced parents have lower levels of self-efficacy, self-esteem, and social support and less efficient coping styles (Kurtz, 1994). Follow-up studies show that children of divorce still display more adjustment problems such as anxiety and depression, low well-being, and school problems in early (Hetherington, 1993) and mid-adolescence (Størksen, Røysamb, Holmen, & Tambs, n.d., 2004). Other researcher have found a lower self-esteem (Bynum & Durm, 1996), a poorer self-concept (Studer, 1993), and a risk of conduct disorder, mood disorder and substance abuse disorders in adolescent offspring of divorced couples (Fergusson, Horwood, & Lynskey, 1994). A longitudinal study found elevated levels of depression in women with divorced parents, and, in both genders an increased risk of frequent job-changing, premarital parenting and marital breakdown in adults of divorced parents (Rodgers, 1994). Parallel to the general finding of small to moderate group differences, there has also been found greater variability in adjustment among children with divorced parents than among children from non-divorced families (Hetherington, 1993; Størksen et al., 2004). This probably reflects the diversity of outcomes after parental divorce (Amato, 2001). There might also be reason to expect different reactions to divorce in the same individuals over time. Hetherington (1993) demonstrated that 6-year-old girls appearing to have a good adaptation to divorce displayed delayed effects in early adolescence. There has also been found an emerging gender difference during adolescence in the relationship between internalizing symptoms and parental distress and discord. Among early adolescents there were no gender differences in the association between internalizing symptoms and parental distress and discord. By mid-adolescence, though, parental distress and discord became significantly associated with internalizing symptoms among girls, but this association was not seen among boys (Crawford, Cohen, Midlarsky, & Brook, 2001). Cherlin, Chase-Lansdale, and McRae (1998) found that—even after adjusting for initial levels of emotional problems—a parental divorce occurring when the child was between 7 and 22 years old had a negative effect when the subjects were in their 20s and early 30s. These results indicate a growing gap over the years between children of divorce and other children. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been conducted that focus on children of divorce and relative change in various domains of adjustment during mid-adolescence. The Norwegian culture: welfare system and divorce rates In 2004, the Human Development Report, which is published annually by the United Nations, ranked Norway as the best place in the world to live. A high percent of women are in work—almost 70% of all Norwegian women—partly because of good social systems (Statistics Norway, 2004). When a women gives birth to a child, she is permitted a one-year leave from work with close to full payment. The Norwegian Government has provided special laws and regulations as an effort to counteract the negative effects of divorce on children. Newly separated couples are offered family counseling. Single parents have priority when it comes to day-care arrangements for small children. If a single parent is not able to work, he or she receives financial support. In addition to this the non-resident parent is obliged by law to contribute financially to the daily costs of raising his or her children. If the non-resident parent does not fulfill his or her duty, the Norwegian welfare system steps in with financial support. In this way children of divorced or single parents in Norway are not financially deprived, although in most cases the economy of single-headed families is not as good as the economy of two-parent families. The most common living arrangement among divorced families in Norway lets the child visit the non-resident parent—usually father—one afternoon every week in addition to a weekend every second week. Recent statistics from Norway imply that almost every second marriage (47.8%) will end in divorce (Statistics Norway, 2002). These rates are typical for many countries, for example the USA (Cherlin, 1992). The social welfare system makes it especially interesting to study possible effects of parental divorce in Norway.

Conclusion The children of divorce had a negative relative change in symptoms of anxiety and depression, subjective well-being, self-esteem and school problems during a four-year period of mid-adolescence. This implies that the development of psychological distress and adjustment problems during adolescence differs between those with a childhood experience of divorce and those with no such experience. The results also showed that the effect of divorce on symptoms of anxiety and depression and subjective well-being was partially mediated by father's absence. Thus, not only the childhood experience of divorce affects adolescent development: being deprived from daily contact with father—because of the present living arrangement—may also have a negative effect on the adolescent development, and can partially explain the general effect of divorce. As many other studies have concluded, the parent–adolescent relationship is important for the adolescent development! Whereas divorce was only related to a relative increase in school problems among boys, divorce was prospectively related to a negative change in all outcome variables among the girls. In fact, the girls of divorce were extremely prone to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression during adolescence, possibly because of new challenges of intimacy and trust in this period. On the other hand, father's absence (or not living with the father) was strongly related to the development of distress among boys, but did not seem to be of importance to the development of distress among girls. A possible explanation for this could be that boys are in special need of daily contact with a male role model during adolescence. For the girls a close relationship with father might not dependent on the fathers’ residence. We are often led to believe that only friends and trends in the adolescent culture have an influence on young peoples’ behaviour and adjustment. The present study reminds us of the important impact various family factors may have on the adolescent development.