Are children that deal with divorce worse off?

I was reading up on an article that was written by Dr. Robert Hodges, Jr. that discussed the difference between children that are with divorced families and those that are with "intact" families. Studies have been done to examine the difference between them to see if there is really a difference. A study done by Amato and Keith in 1991 showed that there is a slight difference in the two. This study tested 92 participants and the results turned out to be that children in divorced households do have it slightly worse than those who live in intact households. These children have more difficulty in school, more behavior problems, more negative self-concepts, more problems with peers, and more trouble getting along with their parents. A more recent update of the findings indicates that this pattern continues in more recent research. Another way to examine this behavior was found by Mavis Hetherington in 1993. She wanted to examine the magnitude in which these children that were so called worse off. She wanted the severe behavior, even with the children that are in the intact families. On a measure of behavioral problems, Hetherington reported that 90% of the boys and girls in intact families were within the normal range on problems and 10% had serious problems that we would generally require some type of professional help. The percentages for divorced families were 74% of the boys and 66% of the girls in the normal range and 26% of the boys and 34% of the girls were in the problematic range. Amato estimated that about 40% of the young adults from divorced families were doing better than the young people from non-divorced families.

The data offered by Hetherington offers that it is very inconclusive to see who is better or worse off. The children from intact families are likely to need help do to their serious problems. The divorced-family kids are likely to need help but that is not conclusive evidence. It is going off of the statistics saying that do suffer more problematic issues but as of now do not need help. Amato said that 40% more of the young adults are more likely to do better in the long run than those from intact families.

So what causes these differences? You have parental loss which is the distance of one parent from that child. When this happens a child loses contact, skills, knowledge, and resources from that one parent that is distant. Then you have economic loss which is due to the fact that the child only can really depend heavily on one parent and that is the parent that is raising them. When it gets to single parent status then the child does not have as much economic resources of those children who live with intact families. With divorce also comes life stress. When a child goes through a divorce then, in many cases, that child has to change schools, living situations, and make new relationships. Also they have to adjust the ones that they already have, either with established friends or extended relatives. You have the lack of parental competence and that deals with the realization of the parent to help the child develop. Usually it doesn't go so well because that parent is still dealing with the divorce in their own way. This has a lot to do with how the child turns out. A most of all the exposure of conflict to the child. When parents are going through a divorce then there is a lot of banter and arguments that come along with it that the child is exposed to. When this happens the child's well-being is heavily affected.

In my opinion, I feel as though it just depends on how strong your parents are, mentally, with raising you and helping you develop. I came from a divorced family and I turned out fine. Although I'm just one case, it's from experience and I've heard other stories alike. I know some intact children that turn to the streets or even drugs for that matter. I think that in the short-run divorce children suffer more but in the long-run they are better off becasue it makes them a strong-willed person. So who is really worse off in the end?

Question: Are divorced-family children worse off than those who do not suffer divorce?