Michael Kelly Mort Kondracke Ch. The conventional wisdom that followed the rapid spread of divorce in the 1970s and 1980s that children are resilient and usually overcome the shock of divorce has been mugged by a brutal gang of facts.
Some children cope well and thrive.
But taken as a group, the children of divorce are at serious risk. For a decade now, the evidence has piled up. Children of divorce are more depressed and aggressive toward parents and teachers than are youngsters from intact families. They are much more likely to develop mental and emotional disorders later in life. They start sexual activity earlier, have more children out of wedlock, are less likely to marry, and if they do marry, are more likely to divorce.