Divorce damages children - Science

[Greg]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170718142938.htm

At the cellular level, a child's loss of a father is associated with increased stress

Date:
    July 18, 2017
Source:
    Princeton University
Summary:
    The absence of a father -- due to incarceration, death, separation or divorce -- has adverse physical and behavioral consequences for a growing child. But little is known about the biological processes that underlie this link between father loss and child well-being. In a new study, a team of researchers reports that the loss of a father has a significant adverse effect on telomeres, the protective nucleoprotein end caps of chromosomes.

[Carleendiane]

This^^^^^^does not surprise me. Scientific studies have been done about the physiological  changes that occur in monogamous couples who share a life time together. Very similar to what occurs during attachment of child to parents. Break the attachment, death or another traumatic event and there are physical and psychological health issues.

[MundaCorMeum]

as a product of a broken home, I could've told you that without being a Princeton graduate

[awkwardcustomer]

as a product of a broken home, I could've told you that without being a Princeton graduate

Me too. My father was killed in a road traffic accident when I was 4. It blighted my life.

And yet I don't remember a single adult ever acknowledging my or my brother's loss..

What's a telemore?

[Lynne]

as a product of a broken home, I could've told you that without being a Princeton graduate

Me too.

[Maximilian]

What's a telemore?

Telomeres are compared to the plastic bits at the end of shoe laces that keep them from fraying. They hold together our DNA. As the telomeres wear out, our DNA starts to malfunction. You can tell a person's "biological age" from the condition of their telomeres. For a healthy person, the telomeres will be holding together better than others their age, while for an unhealthy person, the telomeres are wearing out prematurely.

[ServusMariae]

as a product of a broken home, I could've told you that without being a Princeton graduate

Same here ... well, except divorce wasn't the thing that tore my family apart ... it was the lack of communication & paranoid levels of authoritarian control. Thank God these things have been long resolved ... but I had to take charge of the day-to-day family dynamics (aka be a 'parent' to my parents) for harmony to reign free in the house. Just saying.

[diaduit]

As my children get older (oldest being 14) I see so much more clearly how important a father is....dare I say in their older years even more than me 

[Elizabeth]

100% agreed, Diadult. 

[Maximilian]

as a product of a broken home, I could've told you that without being a Princeton graduate

Same here ... well, except divorce wasn't the thing that tore my family apart ... it was the lack of communication & paranoid levels of authoritarian control. Thank God these things have been long resolved ... but I had to take charge of the day-to-day family dynamics (aka be a 'parent' to my parents) for harmony to reign free in the house. Just saying.

So how's that working out for you?

Based on your recent posts, it's a train wreck. So maybe thinking you knew better wasn't such a good thing after all.

[Lumen Christi]

as a product of a broken home, I could've told you that without being a Princeton graduate

Same here ... well, except divorce wasn't the thing that tore my family apart ... it was the lack of communication & paranoid levels of authoritarian control. Thank God these things have been long resolved ... but I had to take charge of the day-to-day family dynamics (aka be a 'parent' to my parents) for harmony to reign free in the house. Just saying.

So how's that working out for you?

Based on your recent posts, it's a train wreck. So maybe thinking you knew better wasn't such a good thing after all.

I mean no disrespect to you, Servus, so please don't misinterpret what I'm about to say, but "parenting your parents" is definitely a bad sign. I did some reading about this particular action not too long ago. What it does to a younger person to assume the role of parent is essentially make you give your own needs a backseat, and while you could say this is selfless, it's unhealthy. It means you will stifle the very things you need as a child (or at least as a person younger than your parents and in the child role toward them) and this means you will end up potentially keeping your own very valid and important opinions/voice/feelings quiet for the sake of "keeping the peace." At least, this is often the case when you're taking on parent roles in a chaotic situation. You say it was your way of creating harmony, so I don't think I'm far off here. It can also create co-dependent situations because, to the parented adult, why assume responsibility when your child will take care of you instead?

I'm not assuming the worst of your parents or anything, but simply sharing what I've learned.