Why it’s important not to put children in the middle of your divorce.

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Here’s some of my media coverage this week.

As divorce becomes more and more frequent we ask just how much of an effect it can have on our children.

Some research last week claimed that whilst children of divorced parents are more likely to become binge drinkers as adults, it’s not the actual divorce, but the “instability and stress around relationship breakdown” which is to blame. But can divorce itself ever be blamed for the physical and psychological health ailments sometimes found in children and adults with divorced parents?

Parents influence

Parenting expert Sue Atkins agrees with the research and believes that ultimately we are all affected by the actions of our parents – whether divorced or not. “It’s like anything – people pick up their whole habits and values from their parents”, she says, adding that “of course, if they see their parents drinking heavily because of stress around divorce then that’s what they start to learn. Similarly, a couple can be happily married but big drinkers, and this can have the same effect on the children. Sometimes we’re just not aware of the messages we send our kids.”

Read more of my advice here on the NHS website

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