Divorce transitions: Identifying risk and promoting resilience for children and their parental relationships

This paper gives an account of qualitative research linked to clinical work relating to some of the short-term effects of divorce on children within a British perspective. The transitions that accompany divorce and family reordering are shown by many studies in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand as well as in the United Kingdom to have stressful effects for children that can lead to long-term negative outcomes. Other studies have focused on the differential social and family factors that may contribute to the "differences that make a difference" to whether divorce has harmful effects on children. This paper describes clinical intervention into family relationships in divorcing and postdivorce families and suggests some high-risk issues for children. The focus of the work is one promoting long-term connections between parents and children in reordered families. Some interactions that may promote resilience in children as well as in their parents are alluded to briefly.