父母離異對孩子的影響深遠

 

Children struggle with maths and making friends when their parents divorce, a study has found.

They often fall behind classmates whose parents stay married, suffering from anxiety, loneliness and feeling sad - and may never catch up academically.

Contrary to some previous research, children through primary school did not show any negative effects before the parents decided to split, the US study found.

But as soon as the divorce process started, the children suffered a range of problems that persisted, a report in the American Sociological Review said.

The five-year study compared emotional and academic development of children of divorce with those whose parents stayed together, by following 3,585 children from around the age of four.

"Children of divorce experience setbacks in maths test scores and show problems with interpersonal skills and internalizing behaviour," lead researcher Hyun Sik Kim, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. "They are more prone to feelings of anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem and sadness."

Possible causes for the setbacks include stress the children experience as result of seeing their parents blaming each other for the divorce or arguing about custody.

An unstable living situation in which children are shuttled between parents can also disrupt social networks, he said.

Other problems include economic hardship due to a sudden drop in family income or a parent suffering depression as a result of the divorce.

The study adds to a wealth of data showing children suffer badly from parental break-up.

British research showed children of broken families are five times more likely to suffer damaging mental troubles than those whose parents stay together.

一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，父母離異會致使孩子學習成績下降，不愿與其他小朋友交往。

這些孩子會感到焦慮、孤單和悲傷，他們的學習成績往往很差，可能永遠也趕不上班里的其他孩子。

美國研究人員進行的這項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，感情不合的夫妻在還沒有正式離婚前，他們上小學的孩子并沒有任何異常表現(xiàn)，這與之前的調(diào)查有所不同。

刊登在《美國社會學評論》上的這篇調(diào)查報告稱，這些夫妻一旦真正決定分手，他們的孩子則會因此長期受到各種各樣的困擾。

這項調(diào)查歷時五年，追蹤采訪了3585名年齡在四歲左右的兒童，并將家庭幸福美滿的兒童和父母離異的兒童的情商和智商進行了對比。

威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校的金向熙（音譯）是這項調(diào)查的負責人，他說：“父母離異的兒童在數(shù)學測試中得分不高，他們性格比較內(nèi)向，也不善于和同學交往，常常會表現(xiàn)得不安、孤僻、自卑和自怨自艾。”

這些孩子看到自己的父母鬧離婚，爭奪撫養(yǎng)權，他們內(nèi)心會承受巨大的壓力，因而學習成績下滑厲害。

金向熙（音譯）稱，父母的離異迫使孩子不得不在兩個家庭間穿插，這種不穩(wěn)定的成長環(huán)境也不利于他們發(fā)展自己的社會關系。

離婚導致的另一個問題是父母離婚后家庭收入突然降低，或某一方因離婚而一蹶不振，無法工作，生活一下子變得拮據(jù)起來。

這項調(diào)查向我們展示了一個破碎的家庭會給少年兒童造成多壞的影響。

英國的一項相關的調(diào)查顯示，同完整家庭的兒童相比，離異家庭的兒童患精神方面疾病的概率要高出五倍。