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EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN CHILDREN OF HIGH‐CONFLICT DIVORCE
Author(s) -
Ayoub Catherine C.,
Deutsch Robin M.,
Maraganore Andronicki
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.174-1617.1999.tb01307.x
Subject(s) - psychology , distress , emotional distress , mental health , child custody , legal guardian , domestic violence , guardian , developmental psychology , personal distress , suicide prevention , poison control , clinical psychology , psychiatry , criminology , medicine , medical emergency , anxiety , political science , law
This study examines factors that contribute to the emotional distress of children whose parents experience an acrimonious divorce with conflict over custody and visitation issues. Information was gathered systematically from guardian ad litem reports on 105 children in order to explore the child's emotional distress in response to individual‐, parental‐, marital‐, and custody–related factors. Findings emphasize the impact of the level of marital conflict in predicting increases in the child's emotional distress. The child who witnesses domestic violence and experiences child malmatment suffers a powerful cumulative impact from these factors. which results in a steep increase in emotional distress symptoms. A cluster of relevantfactors taken jointly, including the level of marital conflict, violence against a partner or against the child, the parent's mental health, the child's medical condition, and the nature of visitation changes, all contribute signifcantly to the child's emotional distress.