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Washington: There is no such thing as a good divorce when children are involved, according to a recent study.
Scientists at the universities of Santiago de Compostela and Vigo carried out a study into how divorce affects the children’s health, finding increased risk of genitourinary, gastrointestinal, dermatological and neurological issues.
“It is not the break-up in itself that has negative effects on the children’s health, but improper handling of the situation by the parents. This is indicated in the scientific literature and validated by our data,” SINC was told by co-author María Dolores Seijo Martínez.
The experts designed a cross-sectional study of families where the parents were together or divorced, with the participation of 467 boys, girls and teenagers aged between two and 18.
The scientists found that the children of separated parents are approximately twice as likely to develop gastrointestinal, genitourinary, dermatological or neurological issues than children living in nuclear families.
The researchers did not find exposure to divorce to be linked to the development of respiratory, cardiovascular or musculo-skeletal issues, allergies, or hearing and sight problems.
“Poor handling involves very high levels of interparental conflict, which makes it very difficult to maintain a good relationship. If children are exposed to these family situations for prolonged periods, they often experience toxic stress,” says the USC researcher.
In Seijo Martínez’s opinion, this causes an intense, prolonged activation of the body’s stress responses, which are the main cause of these physical effects.
The study appears in the European Journal of Education and Psychology.
