Divorce damage goes on into kids’ adulthood

  Family breakdown is as devastating for today's children as it was when divorce was a source of social disgrace, a new report has warned. According to the study, even though divorce is no longer considered 'shameful' as it was until a decade ago, children of broken families continue to suffer destructive effects throughout their lives. The study found that the damage caused to a child by divorce continues to blight his or her life as far as old age. It said parental separation in childhood was consistently associated with psychological distress in adulthood. 

    "While divorce and separation have become more common, their impact on mental health has not reduced," the report said, adding that goodhealth depends on lifestyle conditions that it termed as 'social medicines'. Key among these is a stable family background. "Family life has undergone dramatic changes in recent years," said study researcher Professor Mel Bartley. "Families no longer have to have two parents, they can contain children from different parents, and parents no longer have to be of different genders. This has led to concerns about the impact of family stability on thehealth and well-being of both children and adults. Children whose parents remain married throughout their early childhood years are less likely to suffer from asthma and obesity than children who have experienced an unstable family situation," he added. 
    "Childhood separation appears to result in an increased risk of a less healthy stress response many years later in adulthood. People who suffer stresses such as parental divorce in childhood are at a higher risk of social and psychological problems later in their adult lives," the report added. ANI

Kids from broken families will suffer psychological problems in adulthood