Divorce and the children

In a survey of divorced and separated Australians, using mainlyquestionnaires, a study was made of parents’ perceptions of the effects of divorce on children. It was found that 8% of children of divorced couples and 15% of those from separated couples were with the father.There was a negative correlation between number of children and parental satisfaction with the marriage. Over a third of the parents thought their children had beenbadly affected by the separation, but themajority felt that they had now adjusted satisfactorily. Children from the same family were affected in different ways.It was found that many non-custodial parents showed little interest in their children.When access arrangements were used, 46% of mothers described the father's visits as disturbing to the children, but only 29% of fathers saw the mother's visits in this light.There are significant associations between the nature of the parental relationship and the impact of the separationon the children, and these are being clarified with the aid of multivariate analysis.