Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Children of Divorce More Likely to Become Smokers

New research from the University of Toronto was not able to prove that children of divorced parents turn to cigarettes as a coping mechanism from lingering childhood trauma. But researchers did find that people whose parents had divorced when they were children were at a significantly increased risk of initiating smoking.

Of the 19,000 U.S adults included in the study, the odds of having smoked 100 or more cigarettes increased by 48 and 39 percent for sons and daughters of separated or divorced parents, respectively. The research suggests that experiencing a parents' divorce, in and of itself, is a risk factor for future smoking.

Source: The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/study-children-of-divorce-more-likely-to-become-smokers/274043/

Religious Parents' Divorce May Cause Children to Leave the Church

A new study has found that the children of religious couples are much more likely to leave the religion if their parents get divorced.

The study, published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, found that children who had two religious parents who get divorced are twice as likely to become estranged from their church as adults compared to people whose parents didn't get divorced.

"When both parents are religious, the effect of divorce has a negative effect on religiosity," says Jeremy Uecker, a professor at Baylor University and lead author of the study. "They might think their parents' marriage was ordained by God or something and that breakup can have more of an effect on their religiousness in adulthood."

Uecker says the effect of divorce on a child's future religious beliefs was seen across all religions. In the future, he hopes to study why children of divorced parents seem more likely to be less religious.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/05/study-religious-parents-divorce-may-cause-children-to-leave-the-church

Even Amicable Divorces Result in Less Religious Kids

Seeking to highlight a phenomenon that has become so common that it's often overlooked by clergy, a new analysis of data about children of divorce reveals that kids raised in happy, intact marriages are twice as likely to worship later in life than children whose parents divorce amicably.

Researchers say they hope the unprecedented project will awaken pastors to a common oversight contributing to the decline in mainline Christian denominations and religious affiliation in general.

"Mainline (Protestant Christianity) has done very little and has largely trusted that as long as everybody gets along and keeps their conflicts down, things will be OK," said the project's lead author, Elizabeth Marquardt, an American studies professor at Lake Forest College, and is director of the Center for Marriage and Families at the Institute for American Values in New York City. "We're really trying to upend that view," she said.

"Children of divorce are on the leading edge of the well-documented spiritual-but-not-religious movement," Marquardt said. "These are potential leaders. As we grapple with more and more people growing up without a married mom and dad, the church can make more sense of that."

Source: Chicago Tribune
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-01-16/news/ct-met-divorce-study-20130116_1_divorce-associate-pastor-elizabeth-marquardt

Facebook Contributing to Divorce

If you think that “special” time you or your partner spends on Facebook is just a little harmless fun, then you may want to, well, WAKE UP. Studies have found that Facebook can actually be serious trouble for a relationship and is responsible for one-third of divorces. One-third!

A U.K. website that focuses on divorce conducted a study in 2009 and another in 2011 on the reasons why people file for divorce. They found that in 2009, 20 percent of the petitions for divorce cited “Facebook” as among the reasons for the split. If that doesn’t already shock you, the study conducted in 2011 saw that number rise to 33 percent! They also found that the most common reasons behind citing Facebook as a contributing factor included “Facebook cheating,” which refers to inappropriate messages sent to Facebook “friends” of the opposite sex.

The British weren’t the only ones to survey just how many divorces may have been Facebook-related. A survey by American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found that 66 percent of divorce lawyers reported a notable increase in the number of divorces blamed on social networking sites, with 80 percent of those being specifically related to Facebook. It also found that one in every five divorces in the United States involve Facebook. Just as with the results from the UK, inappropriate messages to people of the opposite sex were cited as the biggest problem.

Source: Insiders Health
http://www.insidershealth.com/article/is_divorce_in_your_future_one_study_explains_your_relationship_on_facebook/5106

Divorce Causes "Irreparable Harm" to Children

A new study on divorce, looking at the complete spectrum of research on the subject, confirms what most people already know – even if they are not willing to admit it: divorce causes “irreparable harm” to the whole family, but  particularly to the children.

There have been plenty of individual studies exposing one or more effects of divorce, but rarely do researchers give an overview of the findings to date – and it makes disturbing reading.

Divorce puts some children on a “downward trajectory from which they might never fully recover”, says the study, The Effects of Divorce on Children, by Patrick F. Fagan and Aaron Churchill from US-based MARRI (the Marriage and Religion Research Institute of the Family Research Council). “It diminishes children’s future competence in all five of society’s major tasks or institutions: family, school, religion, marketplace and government.”

The study says that the reversal of the cultural and social status of divorce has been nothing less than a cultural revolution. Only a few generations ago, divorce was considered “scandalous”, it says, but now law, behaviour, and culture “embrace and even celebrate it”.

The study describes some negative affects of divorce: “It frequently leads to destructive conflict management methods, diminished social competence and for children, the early loss of virginity, as well as diminished sense of masculinity or femininity for young adults. It also results in more trouble with dating, more cohabitation, greater likelihood of divorce and higher expectations of divorce later in life.”

Source: MercatorNet
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/10241
 

Teen Sex Linked to Higher Divorce Rates

A University of Iowa study has found that women who first engage in sex as young teens are more likely to divorce.

Published in the April issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, the analysis found that 31 percent of women who had sex for the first time as teens divorced within five years of getting married, and 47 percent divorced within 10 years. The divorce rate for women who delayed sex until adulthood was far lower: 15 percent at five years, and 27 percent at 10 years.

Author Anthony Paik, associate professor of sociology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, examined the responses of 3,793 ever-married women to the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth.

A first sexual experience that was unwanted or not completely wanted was strongly associated with divorce. If the young woman chose to lose her virginity as a teen, the results were more nuanced.

When the first intercourse took place early in adolescence - before the age of 16 - the women were more likely to divorce, even if that first sexual experience was wanted.

Source: LifeSiteNews
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/teen-sex-linked-to-higher-divorce-rates/

Happy Teen Years Increase Chances for... Divorce?!

Really?! This item bears more watching - as the report of this new study doesn't provide much in the way of detail into the findings. Using conjecture, I can imagine the possibility where really happy teens might find it difficult to resolve conflict in marriage particularly if they have sailed through the adolescent years without ever learning how to do so. But, as a demographic whole, I can't really envision happiness in the teen years being the cause for later divorces. What do you think?

A recently conducted research by experts at the Cambridge University has reported that a healthy upbringing during teenage years might increases the probability of people getting divorced later on in life. To be precise the likelihood of people with a happy upbringing getting divorced later on in life is 60% more than others.

For the study, experts had carried out an assessment of 2776 people who were involved in a 1946 study carried out by British researchers. The scrutinized study was basically regarding the mental health being of people.

Following a proper analysis it was found by experts that youngsters who had a happy adolescence were more likely to get a divorce later on in life.

Source: Top News
http://topnews.us/content/235809-happy-teen-years-increase-your-chances-divorce-later-life-study

Divorce May Widen Distance Between Teens, Fathers

The typical distancing from parents by adolescents is exacerbated by divorce for fathers, but not for mothers, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

Parental divorce creates an immense pressure to decrease father-child closeness, supplemented by the many barriers created by a father's physical separation from the children. Fathers, who often are the less involved parent before divorce, would have to increase their investment in the relationship just to maintain pre-divorce levels of closeness, which the vast majority of fathers do not do, according to the study.

"Therefore, fathers are at a disadvantage in closeness to start, and then divorce makes it even more challenging to be close," say the researchers.

Source: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109094337.htm

This study just confirms what many already know by experience. In most divorces, mothers retain primary custody of their kids. The fathers are physically separated from their children, and as the study notes, most do not rise to the situation by pressing to remain as connected to their kids as they were before the divorce. Another key reason why I'm not a fan of divorce. But then again, who is?

For more information about staying connected to kids when separation, divorce or other situations put distance between family members, click on the following articles title below:

5 Things Divorced Parents Can Do to Reconnect with Their Kids

10 Commandments to Help the Absent-Father Syndrome