Exposing your kid to continued conflicts leads to maladjustment so minimizing conflict, and practicing resolution and problem solving is what you want your kids to see between parents ; more conflict > worse outcomes (cite)
Preschool age kids seem to have the worse immediate negative effects (revert to immature behaviors, and get separation anxiety (cite)
Long term consequences (have painful memories later in life, worry about their own chance at marriage) are worse for kids whose parents divorce in elementary school so try to get divorce before the kids get to elementary school if you can (cite)
Boys have more behavior and academic problems initially (cite)
Girls experience immediate negative effects but have less obvious behaviors like depression withdrawal and low self-esteem (cite)
Girls whose parents divorced in preschool or elementary may bot show negative effects till adolescence or early adulthood
Early adolescence is a bad age to get remarried as this age group has the worse adjustment compared to children and older adolescents
Kids living with a biological parent and a step parent have worse outcomes (academics, social relationships, and mental health) compared to kids living with both biological parents
Number of visits was associated with better academics and behaviors for boy whose Dads who don’t have custody when they are authoritative in parenting style and are supportive of their child (Hetherington)
Inconsistent results for the effects on gender on adjustment to remarriage
Having a stepfather may actually be beneficial for boys, particularly pre-adolescent boys:
Stepfathers is that they are more distant and disengaged than their biological counterparts; while stepmoms tend to be more involved.
