A divorce can set off a number of events for the couple that is involved. Property division is often one that sparks concern on both sides of the table as is spousal support. But if the spouses share a daughter or son, child custody may be more important than both of these. Many divorced parents in Columbus, Ohio, can vouch for this possibility and some have seen the effects of it play out in court.
Researchers are digging deep into the ways that child custody rulings can affect the relationships individuals have with their divorced parents after the children reach adulthood. Two studies performed by the same group have generated some interesting results that, for the time being, will not play a role in courtroom determinations but could in the future if the results are reinforced by other studies.
In the first study, a website survey was used to gather data from more than 7,700 participants. The survey asked questions about close relationships and personalities as well as the marital status of the participants’ parents. The researchers found that more than 33 percent of those that took the survey had divorced parents and the average age that the divorced occurred for the child was 9 years old. The study dug further, trying to determine if the timing of the divorce during the children’s lives played a role in the relationships they had with their parents in adulthood. The results indicated that it did.
The earlier the divorce happened in the lives of the children, the more prevalent insecurity about the parent-child relationships from the child’s perspective was. Depending on the custody determination after the divorce, one parent may have had more insecurity associated with them than the other. Typically, it seemed that the child felt more insecure about the relationship with the parent who did not have primary custody. This underscores the importance that an associated ruling can have on both a parent and a child. If you want to have custody go the way you want it to, it is suggested that you contact an attorney.
Source: Medical News Today, “Early Divorce Can Affect Parent-Child Relationships Later” No Author Given, Jul. 01, 2013
