How divorce affects teenagers

Teenagers who watch their parents divorce are more likely to suffer health problems, including headaches, trouble sleeping, tension, dizziness and a loss of appetite, experts today warned.

And living with just one parent after separation could be worse for a child, their findings revealed.

Researchers at Stockholm University said divorce was found to increase a child's risk of psychosomatic problems.

Over the past 20 years, family break up has become more common in developed countries, with an increasing tendency to award joint legal custody in the aftermath.

In Sweden alone, joint custody has surged from one to two per cent of children affected by divorce or separation during the 1980s to 40 per cent in 2010.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the number of divorces in England and Wales in 2012 was 118,140 - affecting just under 100,000 children under the age of 16. 

The researchers said: 'The practice of joint physical custody, that is, children spending equal time in the respective homes of their separated parents, has become more frequent in Western countries over the past decade.

'At the same time, there has been an increase in self-reported paediatric psychosomatic symptoms. Child health experts have argued that joint physical custody imposes stress.' 

Past studies have suggested that children whose parents split up are more prone to emotional and behavioural problems than those living in a nuclear family, with two co-habiting parents.

The scientists therefore used data from a national classroom survey, of almost 150,000 Swedish 12 and 15 year olds, to see if children's domestic living arrangements were linked to a heightened risk of psychosomatic problems.

The prevalence of psychosomatic problems during the previous six months was assessed using a validated Psychosomatic Problems scale.

The assessment focused on concentration and sleep difficulties, headaches, stomach aches, feelings of tension, sadness and dizziness and loss of appetite. 

The teenagers taking part were also asked if they could talk easily to their parents when they needed to, and if they had enough money to do the same things as their friends.

Their domestic living arrangements were categorised as living mostly or only with one parent after separation or divorce, alternating between parents as part of a joint custody agreement, and living with both parents in a nuclear family.

Researchers found girls reported more psychosomatic problems than boys at both ages, though they caution girls are more likely to report such health problems.

But, it was teenagers living mostly with just one parent that suffered the most psychosomatic problems.

Those living in a nuclear family, with both parents at home, reported fewest.

And the proportion of children who said they ‘often’ or ‘always’ had the different symptoms assessed on the scale was also highest among those who lived with just one parent.

Children living in joint custody arrangements had fewer psychosomatic problems than their peers living mostly or only with one parent, but they still had more than children living with both parents in a nuclear family.

These findings held true even after taking account of influential factors, such as age and country of origin.

And while the quality of the relationship they had with their parents, and their material wellbeing, were linked to the children’s psychosomatic health, it could not explain the differences found among children in the various different domestic set-ups.

This is an observational study so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the researchers were not able to glean information about when the children had experienced family break-up. But their findings echo those of other studies, they say.

By way of an explanation for the differences noted between children living with one or both separated parents, the researchers emphasise that psychosomatic symptoms are related to stress, and living in two different homes could be stressful for children.

But this might be outweighed by the positive effects of maintaining close contact with both parents, they suggest. 

The research was published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

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