When parents decide to get a divorce, it is easy to imagine all of the major changes that will occur in their lives.
However, children of divorce are as affected, if not more so, by the split.
Divorce can be confusing for children, and they may not know how to respond to the changes.
Later, the divorce can have long-term effects on their lives, decisions, and relationships.
First, you can never predict how a child will react to a divorce.
However, there are some general characteristics of children's responses to divorce.
Young, preschool age kids tend to blame the split on themselves and hope for parents to get back together.
Elementary school children are more likely to feel emotions like anger and sadness, and they may feel pressure to side with one parent or another.
Teens may seem to withdraw while they try to cope with their own feelings.
Later, even two to ten years after the divorce, your son or daughter may still be visibly affected by the split.
If parents divorced while a child was six or younger, the child's memory of the event is probably a little fuzzy.
They can better adapt to step-parents and -families, and they may hold residual anger towards a non-custodial parent for not being there in the same way.
For kids whose parents separated while they were in elementary school, the child may have more difficulty adapting to life with a step-family.
This can make them angry or resentful, which can lead to problems at school such as a drop in grades.
Lastly, as adolescence is a major time of development, teens whose parents get divorced may later have trouble establishing long-lasting relationships of their own.
Divorce can make them "gun-shy" regarding commitment.
Sadly, this can instead lead to early sexual activity within relationships that are not very meaningful.
Also, some studies have shown that adolescents whose parents get divorced are more likely to later experiment with drugs and alcohol.