Magnuson and Berger (2009) conducted a study in which they observed that experiencing family status transitions, such as into a single-mother or step-father family, are associated with increases in behavior problems over time for both younger and older children. A focus on process is an important aspect of the developmental psychopathology approach, and for this reason, they examined four post separation processes, or mediators, through which divorce might lead to problems in children’s adjustment: family income, mother’s depressive symptoms, mother’s sensitivity to the child, and the quality of the home environment. Family income is likely to decline after a divorce (Fields, 2003), and parents with limited resources generally experience greater stress and have less energy to devote to their children and the children are more likely to have mental health difficulties (Barrett & Turner, 2005). Parents are also likely to provide less sensitive care to their children following a divorce and may experience more depressive symptoms as well (Whiteside & Becker, 2000). In addition, the environment in the home of a divorced family may be less supportive of children’s development (Poehlmann & Fiese, 1994), because parents are distracted and distressed and unable to provide the same level of cognitive …show more content…
Children of divorce tend to fall behind in their math skills, surprisingly, divorce did not affect the children’s reading scores (Mann, 2011). The study focused only on elementary children, however so this data is not an accurate representation for all age children. The ages at the time of the divorce greatly impact all effects of their parents’ divorce, so if a child is a seventeen-year-old, they most likely will not have academic problems, more so they will have behavioral and social