THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

Summary/Abstract: Being a single parent is becoming a common and growing reality in recent decades as we are witnessing a "social normalisation" of divorce, reducing the destabilising effects on the psyche of those involved. However, not as much normalisation as we wouldn’t see a similar increase in the difficulties of adapting to the new realities of the family.Divorce is a process that begins several years before the legal separation and often involves conflict between the parents, and continues after the separation, with attempts to adapt to a new reality. The present research explores the effects of divorce on adolescents’ relationships: with the others and with self, from the perspective of specialists (teachers, counsellors, psychotherapists), and a direct assessment of selected factors through standardised questionnaires.The findings show both negative and positive effects on adolescents: an increase in aggression (verbal and hostility), an increase in being aware of emotions, a decrease in generalisation, standards and self-esteem, furtherly differentiated between subjects with divorced parents and/or exposed to interparental conflict. The underlying emotion is fear of abandonment in the context of separation and interparental conflict, threatening and affecting emotional security, the child's bridge to the world. A rewarding result of the research shows that social trust is not affected, with adolescents finding the necessary support from friends or in school.

• Details
• Contents