De gevolgen van echtscheiding voor kinderen.

This chapter offers a review on the consequences of a parental divorce for the adjustment of children. It contains a brief overview of the state of affairs in the Netherlands pertaining to divorce and children. Further, relevant theoretical perspectives are discussed, and it is described how these perspectives can be used to study divorce effects on children. We explain why parental divorce should be seen as a process, that influences children before, during, and after a divorce. Then, the impact of a parental divorce on children’s adjustment is discussed. A divorce negatively affects various domains of child functioning; academic achievement, externalizing problems, psychological adjustment, self-concept, and social-relations. Additionally, gender differences, age differences, and risk and protective factors with regard to the impact of a parental divorce on children are described. We conclude that both short-term and long-term negative effects of a parental divorce on child adjustment are found, that divorce is especially detrimental in the case of ongoing interparental conflicts, and that divorce is a process in which a complexity of factors play a role.