Children of Divorce: Demographic Variables, Symptoms, and Diagnoses
Journal of the American Academy of Child PsychiatryPublished 1 June 1980
Ulrich C. Schoettle, Dennis P. Cantwell
Citations27
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
Abstract
We examined demographic variables, symptoms, and diagnostic categories in a population of 2,351 child psychiatry patients. In this population, 44.3% represent “children of divorce.” This study addresses 64 presenting complaint, sign, and symptom categories as a function of age and sex at the time of initial screening and after a more thorough psychiatric evaluation, usually completed 6 weeks later. DSM-II diagnoses in the various age groups of children of divorce were compared to a control population of children whose parents are currently married. The results are discussed in view of the current literature on psychopathology in children of divorce. Methodological, treatment, and research issues are discussed.
Keywords
PsychologySocial Sciences
Postgraduate Medical JournalAmerican Handbook of Psychiatry
1,522 Citations1960
The American Handbook of Psychiatry is an attempt to catalogue and explain the development of psychiatry in the United States in the period of 175 years.
Journal of the American Medical AssociationVital Statistics of the United States 1937
424 Citations1940
Archives of General PsychiatryFamily Structure and the Mental Health of Children
309 Citations1977Sheppard G. Kellam
A map of variations of families and some of the core relationships between types of family and the mental health of children are provided, finding family type was found to be strongly related over time to the child's social adaptational status (SAS) and his or her psychological well-being.
American Journal of OrthopsychiatryThe effects of parental divorce: Experiences of the child in early latency.
214 Citations1976Joan B. Kelly, Judith S. Wallerstein
The impact of divorce on 26 children in early latency, as observed shortly after the initial parental separation and one year later, is discussed.
American Journal of OrthopsychiatryChildren of divorce in an outpatient psychiatric population.
162 Citations1977Neil Kalter
Children of divorce appeared at nearly twice the rate of their occurrence in the general population and age and sex of the child patient were found to relate substantially to parental status, and to be significantly associated with type of presenting symptom.
Archives of General PsychiatryDivorce and Its Psychiatric Sequelae in Children
140 Citations1970John Francis McDermott
The purposes of this report are to examine statistically the characteristics of a group of children of divorce, using both normal and disturbed children.
Journal of Child Psychology and PsychiatryCHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN “IN CARE” ‐AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY
129 Citations1973Stephen Wolkind, Michael Rutter
An epidemiological study of psychiatric disorder among 10 to 11-year-old children in two communities showed a strong association in boys between antisocial disorder and a history of a short period in foster-care or in a Children's Home, while this association was much less evident in girls.
Journal of Marriage and the FamilyCharacteristics of Adolescents from Unbroken, Broken, and Reconstituted Families
119 Citations1964Lee G. Burchinal
American Journal of PsychiatryParental Divorce in Early Childhood
116 Citations1968John Francis McDermott
Archives of General PsychiatryRole of Child Psychiatry in Divorce
96 Citations1970Jack C. Westman
A report of impressions of divorce gained from the perspective of child psychiatrists working in a family court and in a child psychiatry clinic is presented.
American Journal of OrthopsychiatryBrief interventions with children in divorcing families.
84 Citations1977Joan B. Kelly, Judith S. Wallerstein
American Journal of OrthopsychiatryDivorce counseling: A community service for families in the midst of divorce.
80 Citations1977Judith S. Wallerstein, Joan B. Kelly
A conceptual framework for the development of child-centered, preventive clinical services for divorcing families and the structure and components of an intervention service are presented.
The Psychoanalytic Study of the ChildThe One-Parent Child and His Oedipal Development
80 Citations1960Peter Neubauer
Archives of General PsychiatryDivorce and Psychiatric Disease
77 Citations1973C. William Briscoe
The findings from a study of 139 divorced probands and married, never divorced or widowed controls determine the incidence and relationship of psychiatric illness, as well as other demographic and domestic variables, to marital turmoil and divorce.
American Journal of PsychiatryThe Influence of Psychotic Parents on Their Children's Development
73 Citations1972Rita Landau, PAULA HARTH +2 more
A comparison of the psychological and intellectual development of children whose parents were mentally ill and children of normal parents disclosed significant differences between the two groups, and the former group should be viewed as a population at risk.
Journal of Child Psychology and PsychiatryINTACTNESS OF THE HOME AND BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN
67 Citations1966Jacob Tuckman, Richard A. Regan
Type of home was significantly differentiated by four referral problems: anxiety and neurotic symptoms, aggression, anti-social behaviour, and problems of habit formation.
Archives of General PsychiatryAnterospective Data Following Childhood Loss of a Parent
64 Citations1965Ian Gregory
There appears to be a dearth of studies involving relationships between psychopathology among college students and childhood loss of their parents, however, Ingham reported a significantly higher frequency of parental separation among 138 neurotic college students than among 370 control students.
PEDIATRICSAnnual Summary of Vital Statistics—1973
60 Citations1974Myron E. Wegman
National data for this article, as in previous reports, are drawn principally from the Monthly Vital Statistics Report, but the provisional data sometimes omit significant factors related to the World Health Organization definition of a live birth and an infant death.
Journal of Mental ScienceNew Data on Marriage and Mental Disease: The Incidence of Psychoses in the Widowed and the Divorced
58 Citations1953Ørnulv Ødegård
The high morbidity from psychoses in the single and the divorced as compared with the married and the widowed is discussed, and it seems that a selection by marriage with regard to personality traits and mental health is the main cause.
The British Journal of CriminologyDELINQUENCY AND SOCIAL CLASS
57 Citations1966James W. Douglas, Jaime M. Ross +2 more
Journal of Autism and Developmental DisordersSocial class factors in autism
56 Citations1971Edward Ritvo, Dennis P. Cantwell +6 more
Child DevelopmentFather Absence, Perceived Maternal Behavior, and Moral Development in Boys
55 Citations1975John W. Santrock
The rated and observed moral behavior, judgment, and affect of 120 preadolescent, predominantly lower-class boys from early-divorced, late- Divorced (between 6 and 10), and parentally intact homes were investigated.
Comprehensive PsychiatryParental divorce as a factor in childhood psychiatric illness
49 Citations1974James R. Morrison
It is important to examine the parents and other relatives of psychiatrically ill children for mental illness and to attempt to correlate such illness with marital status.
American Journal of OrthopsychiatryAntisocial behavior and social alienation post divorce: The “man of the house” and his mother.
49 Citations1976Kay Tooley
Clinical experience outlined in this paper suggests that both mother and son can benefit quickly and dramatically from family interventions focused on recognizing and utilizing aggression.
The British Journal of PsychiatryThe Relationship Between Marital Status and the Risk of Psychiatric Referral
46 Citations1974Norma C. Robertson
The hypothesis that a single person when developing symptoms of mental illness is more likely to be admitted to mental hospital, whereas a married person is morelikely to be treated in the community, was proved true.
Child Psychiatry & Human DevelopmentThe impact of divorce on the family
43 Citations1971David W. Cline, Jack C. Westman
Of 105 families that experienced divorce, 52 percent had hostile postdivorce interactions requiring at least 1 court intervention, and 31 percent required 2 to 10 court interventions in a two-year follow-up period.
The British Journal of PsychiatryChildhood Bereavement and Subsequent Crime
41 Citations1966Felix Brown, Phyllis Griffin Epps
The background of 546 women prisoners shows that 18.2 per cent.
Archives of General PsychiatryCritical Life-Events and Prevention Strategies in Mental Health
40 Citations1971William G. Smith
The relationship between onset of serious mental disorder and the occurrence of 37 crisis or stress events was studied and two markers, divorce/separation and onset of drinking in a family member, tended to precede the onset of mental disorder.
PEDIATRICSCHILDREN OF DIVORCE
38 Citations1970Max Sugar
If in spite of their own emotional upheaval the parents are alert to the child9s anxiety or depression, they may be able to institute prophylactic measures, which requires parental cooperation which may be quite difficult, here the advice and explanations of an informed and perceptive pediatrician may be of unique value.
The British Journal of PsychiatryDivorce Among Psychiatric Out-patients
38 Citations1972Robert A. Woodruff, Samuel B. Guzé +1 more
An evaluation of divorce and of various environmental, social, family history, and diagnostic variables among 500 patients randomly selected from a psychiatric clinic indicates that alcoholism is particularly associated with divorce.
Archives of General PsychiatryMental Health Among the Divorced
34 Citations1967Monica D. Blumenthal
In conclusion, families with multiple problems in which a high percentage of the marital Partners show signs of emotional disturbance or immaturity are highly vulnerable to divorce and should be considered for divorce.
American Journal of PsychiatryA Reevaluation of "Psychiatric Help" When Divorce Impends
30 Citations1969Carl A. Whitaker, Milton H. Miller
The authors suggest the inclusion of both partners, as well as children and perhaps other family members, in the therapeutic situation as one means of avoiding an outcome that may ultimately prove detrimental to all.
American Journal of OrthopsychiatrySurrogate mother-child relationships.
14 Citations1975Sidney Z. Moss, Miriam S. Moss
Many children are raised by a surrogate mother after loss of their biological mother, and the process of developing a relationship between the child and surrogate is complicated by the image of the biological parent.
Archives of General PsychiatryParent-Child Separation
12 Citations1969Alistair Munro
This article reviews briefly some of the more reliable reports on deprivation due to physical separation of parent and child (for example, by parental absence or death, or by the child's having to be in hospital) and attempts to evaluate the alleged results.
American Journal of PsychiatryMental Patients' Perceptions of Illness Etiology
7 Citations1974Raymond M. Weinstein