Divorce & Remarriage

Divorce causes many things, however, the most lasting effect is usually negative. Not only it affects the adults but their children as well, and it also affects the future families after remarriage. Although some divorces are likely done because of really good reasons, they still carry various negative legal, emotional, and social effects for all those involved. 

    Remarried adults frequently begin new relationships with more caution, greatly slowing down the process of increasing trust, reliance, and commitment levels to new intimate relationships. These emotional scars are much harder to heal and even after a long while these events leave behind a mark that still compels individuals to act differently than they would otherwise. On average 70% of divorced individuals regret having followed through with it within two years. On the other hand, couples who stayed together and worked through their challenges have reported a significant change in their marriage satisfaction level, within the same time frame they mostly went from a “very dissatisfied” to a “very satisfied” level.

    Mixed families experience all the same difficulties and challenges a nuclear one does but with many more added ones too. Hence, It is no wonder that about 63% of blended families with children end up divorcing again in less than two years. Some studies argued that as remarried couples experience these new adversities, they will need at least two full-year cycles to fully adjust. For example, events that would normally bring a nuclear family together, strengthen their relationship. Members of a mixed one are likely to experience sorrow because it reminds them that their families are separated, which makes various things a lot more complex and confusing to deal with.

    One of the main purposes of marriage is to increase the home and to have children, but blended ones experience an “instant family” event, which changes that mindset. The relationship of the children with the new parent in many cases is harder to be established. Not only that the tasks and responsibilities are not exclusive, but rather it is shared with a seemingly outside party. Consequently, all four basic systems that make up the ecological environment of both adults and children become unstable. This negative outcome often results in weaker family relationships, defective coping skills to adversities, and lowers social capabilities.

    Furthermore, the financial and legal troubles divorce brings for the parents are hard to overcome. When couples separate their mutual close friends ultimately have to choose who they will side with in the coming months and years.

    In conclusion, far too many divorces end up resulting in many negative legal, emotional, cognitive, and social effects. Most couples who undergo a crisis and divorce usually regret their decision after some time, while couples who work through their issue to resolve them, in due time, find themselves living a much more satisfying marriage. Children of blended families usually end up having a more unstable environment, resulting in an increase in early-life disadvantages compared to those whose parents have not separated. Nonetheless, parents must always work together in unity, otherwise even if the marriage does not end in divorce it will not be beneficial for their children or for themselves.

In summary, the best family relations are unavoidably a sum of all the topics covered so far in this blog and more. As I think about all twelve of them, I believe that appropriate preparations before marriage, refined parenting methods, open communication, and positive coping skills are the main keys to a good and satisfying marriage. Although there will not be any more posts, I hope that the things shared here have been of good use.