EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN CHILDREN OF HIGH-CONFLICT DIVORCE |
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| Authors: | Catherine C. Ayoub Robin M. Deutsch ronicki Maraganore |
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| Affiliation: | Catherine C. Ayoub, R.N., M.N., Ed. D. a nurse practitioner anda licensedpsychologist, is a senior staff member at the Children and the Law Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and director ofpsychology at the Boston Juvenile Court Clinic. She is an assistantprofessor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has 25 years of experience working in health senings with children andfamilies at riskand in legal systems with maltreated children andfamilies. She serves as a guardian ad litem or a clinical consultant to juvenile and. family courts. Her research interests include the developmental impact of childhood trauma and the study of parent-child relationshps in high-risk situations. She has authored more than 45 arricles on children at risk, child maltreatment, chilakod t r a m, and preventiodintervention systems.; Robin M. Deutsch, Ph. D., is a licensedpsychologist, senior stafmembeq and director of training at the Children and the Luw Program at Massachusetts General Hospital;director of training and clinical servicesat the No jblk County Juvenile Court Clinic;and instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School. She has more than 20 years of experience working with children and families. She ofen serves as a guardian ad litem, evaluatol;or consultant to juvenile and family courts.; Andronicki Maraganore, Ed.M., is a doctoral student in human development andpsychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has served as the senior research assistant and coordinator for the Family Assessment Project at the Children and the Law Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. She is a graduate of Colby College and holds a specialized master's degree in risk andpreventionfiom Harvard University. |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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