Divorce Causes Children's Math Grades and Social Skills to Suffer

Jun 4, 2011
Christina Gregoire

Children's Math Scores - seeveeaar

If you are getting divorced, you must make sure your child keeps up with peers in math. Also, watch for signs of sadness, anxiety, loneliness, and more.

A new study reports that children of divorce are more likely to lag behind peers in math and to battle with anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, and sadness. Hyun Sik Kim, a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published these findings in the June 2011 issue of the American Sociological Review, and was surprised to find that children experienced no problems during the pre-divorce periods; however, problems started as soon as the divorce process began.

Divorce Study

Kim analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class 1998-1999 for his research. From this, he chose 142 children from divorced families to compare with students from intact families. All of the 142 children had parents who divorced when the kids were between the first grade and the third grade. Thus, Kim was able to review the children’s school records before their parents’ divorces, during their parents’ divorces, and afterwards.

Kim analyzed the children’s records four times:

Spring of kindergarten
Spring of first grade
Spring of third grade
Spring of fifth grade

Children of Divorce Had Lower Math Scores

Using the progress on standardized math tests, the study found that children of divorce had results that were 12% lower than similar children from intact families. Kim found that reading skills for these children did not fall behind.

Why would math scores suffer, but not reading skills? The study of mathematics is a cumulative skill. If a child were to fall behind in one section, he or she would have a difficult time keeping up with the next math skill. Learning to read is a fluid process. Therefore, it is easier to catch up with the rest of the class in reading.

Over time, the math scores did not change. They did not get better, but they did not get progressively worse.

The Disruption of Divorce

Kim noted that the children of divorce had no discernable difficulties with educational skills or social skills during the pre-divorce period. He expected to find that kids would have been upset or distracted by their parents' arguing about impending divorce, but this was not the case. Children seemed to develop problems once the actual divorce process had begun. This might have been due to the characteristics of divorce that often affect children:

living in two homes instead of one stable household
moving to a new neighborhood or a new region of the country
loss of long-time friends and extended family
economic hardship due to a lowered family income

Internalized Problems

The study found that internalized problems were much more prevalent than externalized problems. Internalized problems include anxiety, loneliness, sadness, and low self-esteem. Externalized problems, such as arguing, fighting, or showing anger, were less apparent.

What Can Parents Do?

It seems that it is imperative for one or both parents to meet with (or send emails to) the child’s teacher to make sure the child is not falling behind in math. Without adding pressure on the child, it might be good to send him or her to a math summer camp or to pay an older neighbor child to engage in some friendly tutoring.

While, it is common for children of divorce to feel sad and to have problems keeping or making friends after a divorce, parents must go out of their way to help the situation. If the child seems truly unhappy, finding a good child psychologist may be the best option.

Disclaimer: Information from this article is not intended to be a substitute for advice from a lawyer, financial planner, therapist, or other professional. Please consult a lawyer or other professional for specific advice.