Divorcing parents who try to maintain an amicable relationship for the sake of their children are doing nothing to help them, a major study suggests.
The impact of the split on youngsters is the same whether or not the mother and father keep cordial links, it found.
The findings undermine a Government-backed consensus that the harm caused to children by separating parents can be limited if the couple remain friends.
Trauma: Children of separated parents are more likely to suffer behavioural problems later in life whether or not their parents are on good terms, according to a study by U.S. researchers (picture posed by model)
Three Whitehall ministries are currently ploughing money into supporting a policy on divorce and family break-up which says that it is conflict between the parents and not their separation itself that harms children. The new study, the first in 20 years to examine how the behaviour of separated parents affects their children, was carried out by US academics.
It covered 270 parents who were divorced or separated between 1998 and 2004 in an unnamed US state that compels divorcees to take part in an education programme on ‘co-operative co-parenting’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2742696/Amicable-divorce-just-damaging-children-Impact-split-youngsters-couple-remain-friends-not.html#ixzz3CJVMCFRr
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