According to an article in the Today News Gazette, every one in two marriages end in divorce. Divorce presents a simple way to dissolve the union of marriage, and every year it breaks apart hundreds of families. Separation between married couples causes devastating effects for the splitting men and women, the children and teens in divorced homes, and the extended family on either side. Emotional, financial, and social problems often form in the lives men and women who have divorced their spouses. Dissolved marriages also have a massive impact on the children involved, causing many distressing emotional problems. Lastly, divorce has a lasting effect on the extended families of the separated couple: it can create confusing emotions and cause much tension.

Men and women who go through divorce often experience a variety of emotional, financial, and social problems. According to an article by psychologist Kathleen O’Connell Corcoran, men and women struggle with emotions such as anger, depression, and anxiety throughout the process of divorce. Financial issues abound from divorce due to the sudden disappearance of additional income that a person’s former spouse used to contribute. Researcher L. C. Sayer estimated that individuals that have divorced their spouse “need more than a 30% increase in income…to maintain the same standard of living they had prior to their divorce” (Sayer, L. C.). Also, many men and women experience certain social issues such as loneliness and the inability to interact comfortably with others for some time after separating from their spouse. Dissolving a marriage not only causes devastating effects in the lives of adults; it marks the lives of children as well.

Divorce often causes many negative psychological effects in children and teens. According to an article in the Huffington Post, children and teens whose parents have separated experience “an increased risk of suicidal thoughts” due to feeling that they have failed in keeping their parents together. (Lee, Amy. "Kids Of Divorce And Suicide: New Study Shows Link."). In an interview, Elissa Filozof, a teen whose parents divorced several years ago, related that she does not “get to see a loving, healthy, committed marriage modeled,” due to the separation; she feels that, because of the divorce, she struggles with feeling “awkward, self-conscious, and insecure” (Filozof, Elissa. "Negative Effects of Parents' Divorce."). University of Southern California sociologists have also found that a child feels as much or more emotional pain when he or she loses a parent through divorce then when he or she loses a parent through death. Not only children, but extended family also feels the aftermath when divorce dissolves the union of marriage.

Extended family on both sides of a divorce also struggle with effects caused by separation. According to an article by Everett Maclachlan, the extended families of the affected couple often have confusing feelings in regards to “whom they should support during and after the divorce” (Maclachlan, Everett). When a close family member suddenly separates from the family unit, it causes stress and awkwardness. In her interview, Elissa Filozof shared her experience that divorce “has drastic effects on families,”? causing “new circumstances that all family members involved have to learn how to deal with.” Ending a marriage can cause damaging results to all those who love and have a close connection to the struggling couple.

Dissolving a marriage causes many devastating effects not only in the lives of the separating couple: it also touches the lives of all those connected to them. Many negative emotional, financial, and social problems abound in the lives of men and women who go through divorce. Children who have suddenly lost a parent because of divorce display a variety of emotional and psychological struggles. Extended families of those who divorce also suffer with discord in the family. Matthew 19:6 says, “Since they [husband and wife] are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together (NLT)”; God knows the pain that divorce causes and commands against it in order to protect His children. If husbands and wives could learn to forgive and love each other “for better or for worse” in marriage, fewer families would have to experience the bitter pain that divorce causes.



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Works Cited

"Divorce Hurts Kids Worse Than Death of a Parent." Afajounal.org. American Family







Association, Mar. 2001. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://www.afajournal.org/2001/march/familyb.asp>.

Filozof, Elissa. "Negative Effects of Parents' Divorce." E-mail interview. 11 Jan. 2013.

Hickson, Anna-Sofie. "The Effects of Divorce on Women & Men." Livestrong.com. Livestrong Foundation, 26 Apr. 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/147937-the-effects-of-divorce-on-women-men/>.

Lee, Amy. "Kids Of Divorce And Suicide: New Study Shows Link." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/24/divorce-and-suicidal-idea_n_812456.html>.

Maclachlan, Everett. "How Does Divorce Affect the Family? 3 Ways." Ezinearticles.com. N.p., 3 Aug. 2010. Web. 15 Jan. 2013. <How Does Divorce Affect the Family? 3 Ways>.

O'Donnell Corcoran, Kathleen. "Psychological and Emotional Aspects of Divorce." Mediate.com. N.p., June 1997. Web. 14 Jan. 2013. <http://www.mediate.com/articles/psych.cfm>.

Sayer, L. C. (2006). Economic Aspects of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution. In M. A. Fine & J. Harvey (Eds.), Handbook of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution (pp. 385–406). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.