Study: Divorce and the mental health of children

Even before a marital breakup, young children of parents heading for divorce tend to develop mental health problems, according to a new study originating from the Research Data Centre program and published recently in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

The study found that children whose parents eventually divorce show higher levels of depression, as well as higher levels of anti-social behaviour, than children whose parents remain married.

Parental divorce is an increasingly common experience in childhood, with nearly one in two divorces in Canada involving dependent children.

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used to track children aged four to seven who were living with both parents in 1994. The mental health characteristics of children whose parents remained married were compared to those whose parents had divorced by 1998.

Levels of depression and antisocial behaviour were found to be higher in 1994 among the children whose parents eventually divorced.

Parents who divorced by 1998 reported lower levels of marital satisfaction, and higher levels of depression and family dysfunction when first interviewed in 1994. They also tended to be younger than the parents of families that remained intact.

The study found that the same characteristics associated with parental divorce by 1998 were also associated with higher levels of childhood depression and anti-social behaviour.

Once these family characteristics were taken into account, the differences in mental health at the initial interview between children whose parents divorced and children whose parents remained married were no longer detected. This suggests that it may not necessarily be divorce that is potentially damaging to child mental health.

It also found that, over and above these pre-existing differences, children's levels of depression tended to increase in the aftermath of divorce. But, for some children in highly dysfunctional families, their levels of anti-social behaviour tended to decrease after the divorce.

Note: Data for this study came from Cycles 1-3 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The analysis was conducted at the Toronto Regional Statistics Canada Research Data Centre, located at the University of Toronto. The Research Data Centre program is part of an initiative by Statistics Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and university consortia to strengthen Canada's social research capacity. There are 16 centres currently operating at various universities.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 4450.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of these articles, contact Dr. Lisa Strohschein, (780-492-0475), Department of Sociology, University of Alberta.

The article "Parental divorce and child mental health trajectories" has been published in the December issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family. To obtain a copy of the article, contact Phoebe Dey (780-492-0437), Media Relations at the University of Alberta.

For more information about the Research Data Centre program contact Gustave Goldmann (613-951-1472), Research Data Centre program.