This paper will investigate the effects of divorce on children and it will focus on different ages of children and the effect on there lives. The information in this paper was gathered in the spring of 2001.
             A. 1. The effects of divorce on toddlers, and preschooler.
             2. The effects of divorce on preteens and adolescents.
             3. The effect of living in stepparent or single parent home.
             B. The purpose of the study was to show how children are affected at different ages and how it effects them as they grow up. This is useful research for parents who are thinking about getting divorced. If they know how there children are going to react ahead of time this will assist them in dealing with this problem. Also this could be helpful for the children themselves that may be having feelings that they have not experienced before about there family and this could help them realize that they are not alone.
             C. This study was limited to the resources on hand at the UNT library.
             D. 1. "Toddlers" (DeBord, 1997) are the second group. They know that they do not live with both parents but they cannot grasp the reason why. Toddlers that are going through this may experience a worsened terrible two's syndrome. This can include difficulty sleeping and "growing up". "Growing up" means to move away from infantile behaviors and to become more independent. The toddler might be afraid that if the custodial parent leaves, even to go to work, that he/she may never come back. The child may become attached to the custodial parent and cry excessively when he/she leaves, even for a moment. The toddler might cause problems in day care or other facilities such as throwing tantrums or biting (DeBord, 1997).
             The next group are "preschoolers" (DeBord, 1997). These children cannot comprehend what divorce means but they know that they do not see one parent as often as the other. One of the biggest effects on this age group are nightmares....