Renowned psychologist and best-selling author, Judith Wallerstein, has been looking for answers. She began tracking the fate of 131 children whose parents parted in California in the 1970s. Below, Wallerstein shares her discoveries. Experience with sex and drugs came earlier than it did for children from intact families. Yet the research also shows that adolescence lasts longer for many children of divorce because they find it harder to break away from a dependent parent, even after they ve entered adulthood.
Adulthood is when people form long-lasting romantic relationships.
When I talked to people who d grown up in intact families, they talked about building a tree house. They remember all sorts of play. Children from divorced families never talked about their play. They just never brought it up.