Children of divorce: Unpopularity and Social Skills

Part of the Divorce Statistics Collection, from Americans for Divorce Reform
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Studies show that children in repeat divorces have lower grades and their peers find them less pleasant to be around.
Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981), 71. Cited on page77 ofThe Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher

Children of divorce were four times more likely than children in intact families to say they had problems with peers and friends.
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher p. 65, citing Dorothy Tysse and Margaret Crosbie-Burnett, "Moral Dilemmas of Early Adolescents of Divorced and Intact Families: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis," Journal of Early Adolescence 13, no. 2 (May 1993): 168-182.

Dr. Wallerstein, both in her own studies and in a review of similar studies, found that there were significant groups of children who, even six years after the breakup of their parents' marriage, were "impulsive, irritable and socially withdrawn" and tended to be "lonely, unhappy, anxious, and insecure."
Brian Willats, Breaking Up is Easy To Do, available from Michigan Family Forum, citing Judith Wallerstein, Ph.D., "The Long-Term Effects of Divorce on Children: A Review," Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, May 1991, p. 352.

"Two researchers have discovered, for example, that children from disrupted families are more isolated than children from stable marriages, that they depend more on teachers, counselors, and baby-sitters for support while at the same time perceiving these 'outsiders' as sources of family conflict. The children from disrupted families are also more dissatisfied with the support they receive from friends.
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher p. 27, citing Sylvie Drapeau and C. Bouchard, "Support Networks and Adjustment Among 6- to 11- Year Olds from Marital Disrupted and Intact Families," Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 19 (1993): 75-97.

"A number of researchers also found that children of divorce, especially boys, were more aggressive than children whose parents stayed married."
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher p. 35, citing Robert E. Emery, Marriage, Divorce, and Children's Adjustment (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publication, 1988), 50-54.

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