We have all heard the statistic—“nearly fifty percent of marriages end in divorce,” (Raley & Sweeney, 2020). While recent research shows that this is slowly going down, it is still appalling to those of us who have always felt called to marriage. Divorce is a devastating thing, and it hurts everyone involved. If you or someone you know has experienced the effects of parental divorce, my heart goes out to you. Truly this must be one of the most difficult things that a person—especially a child—can go through in their lifetime.
The impact of such an event in a person’s life is nearly always monumental. It affects so many different areas, but the one that often gets the most attention is how it affects a person’s romantic relationships and their attachment style later in life. There are several existing hypotheses that suggest a child of parental divorce is far less likely to form secure attachments to their romantic partners. However, I have found this claim to be based more on anecdotal evidence than on actual scientific discovery.
In a study by Fraley and Heffernan (2013), results suggested that parental divorce may have “selective effects” on attachment-building, but that it is more likely for this to manifest in insecure representations of one of their parents rather than in their romantic relationships; their mistrust could for one of their parents rather than their romantic partner. I discussed this topic with my future mother-in-law whose parents divorced while she was in junior high.
“While I was a child, I had a very skewed view of marriage. I basically developed a bad taste in my mouth for men in general.... It was very challenging emotionally. I lived with my mom for most of it, then went through a rebellious phase where I didn’t want to live with her so moved in with my dad, but that only lasted a few months… he was hardly ever around.”
One of the factors that Fraley and Heffernan (2013) suggest to be the most influential is whether children end up living with their father or mother after the divorce. If the child stays with the mother, insecure representations of men and fathers often form; on the other hand, if the child stays with the father, the same typically happens for women and mothers (Fraley & Heffernan, 2013). My (soon-to-be) mother-in-law’s experience is no exception to this.
“There were a few years where I said, ‘Naw—I’m never getting married!’…Before I met [my husband] I have to admit I went through a phase where I was always trying to find approval in men, and my relationships with them were not the healthiest.”
By this time in her life, she might have fit the stereotype of a child of divorce inhibited from building secure romantic relationships. However, this is not how everything turned out. The results from Fraley and Heffernan’s (2013) study suggest that the “association between parental divorce and insecurity in romantic relationships is relatively small,” and that this is likely due to individual’s implementation of mechanisms to avoid their parents’ mistakes.
“With [my husband], we never wanted to make our kids go through what we went through if possible, so my mentality shifted to trying to make our marriage the best it could be and taking that commitment to a whole other level… I treat it as a gift—as something that I want to bring glory to God, that others might see and desire to have.”
She and her husband—both children of divorce—have been happily married for nearly thirty years now.
Clearly, experiencing divorce as a child does not determine the fate of a person’s marriage, but then what is the key to ensuring your marriage doesn’t end up as your parents’ did? My belief is that it’s learning: learning from couples who show you a strong and healthy relationship and learning how to save the good parts of your parents’ relationship while learning how to avoid the areas that were weaker. Or perhaps you grew up with amazing family relationships and your parents were always together? Then maybe it’s about learning from their strengths and how they embraced the joys and challenges of marriage; always remembering to never take for granted the example that they gave you. The success of our relationships is not bound by the fate of our parents’, but rather the effort that we put into them. Marriage takes hard work; it requires for you to wake up each day ready to sacrifice for your spouse and choose to love them—in sickness and in health.
References:
Fraley, R. C., & Heffernan, M. E. (2013). Attachment and Parental Divorce: A Test of the Diffusion and Sensitive Period Hypotheses. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(9), 1199–1213. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213491503
Raley, R. K. & Sweeney, M. M. (2020). Divorce, repartnering, and stepfamilies: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 81-99. https:doi- org.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/10.1111/jomf.12651
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThis has always been a topic of interest for me. I think experiencing divorce through my parents has led me to agree with some of the research. For me, I went back and forth living with both parents but I still gained insecurities towards one when I began to notice the type of care they provided. I also agree that I don't think the divorce has lead to be to have insecurities in romantic relationships. I think it has actually done the opposite. It has showed me the type of relationship that I want to create instead of the one I witnessed. Thank you for your post.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThis blog has a very interesting topic that many individuals can relate to since divorce is so common. My parents are not divorced but I have a lot of aunts and uncles who are and I am very close to my cousins so I do know a little bit on what it is about. When statistics say that if your parents are divorced the chances are that the kids romantic relationships and their attachment style can change later in life. Well, I have two cousins whose parents are divorced and they are the only cousins in the family who have a healthy stable relationship so I agree with you when you said that experiencing divorce as a child does not determine the fate of a romantic relationships because clearly, that is not always the case.
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ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting to read. I really liked how you mentioned the experience of two people whose parents divorced and are now happily married. Especially because I have seen facts on the internet that will say something like “children whose parents divorce are likely to divorce themselves” I think that this can be very misleading and can make people fear or believe it. So I was glad that you wrote this post because I think it’s important to know that divorce is very hard and can have negative effects but it should not and does not predict our relationships. Anyway thank you for this post it was very insightful and I learned a lot from it.
Forgot to mention how this applies to me or someone I know but personally my parents where about to divorce and I was caught in the middle kind of like the messenger and I probably can't relate to someone who has had their parents divorced but I know it is something I do not want in my future relationship or have my kids go through.
DeleteHello Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog! I completely agree with you divorce is definitely one of the most difficult things that a person can go through, specifically a child, in their lifetime. I personally have not had to experience this, my parents have thankfully been married for 26+ years. However, I have been able to experience my brother’s divorce with his wife and I have seen how this has all affected there son. I think when a family goes through a divorce the most affected are the children, especially when having to live one week with their mother and one week with their father as it is for my brother’s case. I like that you pointed out that a parents divorce doesn't necessarily define there children's future relationships, I have an uncle who divorced years ago and my cousins are all in healthy relationships now. Thank you for this blog!
I don't know why it published as anonymous, so I went ahead and published it again with my name down below
DeleteHello Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog! I completely agree with you divorce is definitely one of the most difficult things that a person can go through, specifically a child, in their lifetime. I personally have not had to experience this, my parents have thankfully been married for 26+ years. However, I have been able to experience my brother’s divorce with his wife and I have seen how this has all affected there son. I think when a family goes through a divorce the most affected are the children, especially when having to live one week with their mother and one week with their father as it is for my brother’s case. I like that you pointed out that a parents divorce doesn't necessarily define there children's future relationships, I have an uncle who divorced years ago and my cousins are all in healthy relationships now. Thank you for this blog!
Hi Amanda, great post! I agree with your perspective on this and that learning from examples of couples with strong and stable relationships is what can ultimately determine ones future relationships. I personally have divorced parents, however have not had any relationship insecurities or issues. I think this is because both of my parents remarried into happy and healthy relationships, so I am able to have two examples of good relationships to look up too. Although, even though both of my parents ended up happy, I also agree that divorce is one of the hardest thing for a child to go through. I can relate to your mother-in-law's feelings of never wanting to put her children through the pain of divorce, as I have always felt the same way. I really admire her outlook on her relationship in that regard. Overall, I think you interpreted the relationship outcomes of divorce in a very realistic way that can account for the varying differences in relationship outcomes of children with divorced parents.
ReplyDeleteAs a professional blogger myself, I love to hear the opinions of others and relate them back to my own experiences. I am a product of a very messy divorce and because of that experienced the insecure attachment reality afterward that you speak of in your post. When my own marriage took a turn for the south in a not-so-devistating way (more on that in my own blog), I was determined to not let our child go through what I had been through and more importantly not to come out of it as an adult with abandonment issues, anger, and fear. So my now ex-husband and I made a pact that we would remain a family, no matter how awkward at first, and that we will continue to put each other first for our daughter's sakes no matter what happened in our future lives. I am happy to say we have kept our pact! The first few months were tricky and weird but we did family dinner night once a week and got through the silent dinners with hardly a word said between us an all focus on our daughter. Eventually, we got through the awkwardness (You'll hear that word quite a bit when I talk about it because there is not another word that describes spot-on how it feels to force conversation with an ex)and our dinners because the new normal and our chats were back to being full of giggles and ease of flow. we eventaully added in a movie night once a week all together when we felt comfortable. We took a family vacation to Hawaii all together and slept in separate beds and at point we were pretty used to our arrangement. When I started dating, I was open and honest and it put us right back into that awkward phase, but we continued with our dinners and movie nights. Eventually me dating became the new normal. Then my ex started dating and we went straight back to that awkward phase for a while. But eventually, as becoming the new pattern, we got over it with our family dinners and the both of us dating became our new normal. Now my ex and I are besties, we hang out as a 5-some (daughter, me, boyfriend, ex-husband, girlfriend) and it just feel so happy and healthy and evolved. We did it.
ReplyDeleteMy point? Divorce doesn't always have to go the way it did with your parents. Making the most of it, and ALWAYS putting your child first is the ONLY healthy thing you can do to overcome the devastation of a marriage falling apart. You both have to get over your egos and your jealousy and that's not an easy feat. But it can be done. We're proof. Just keep adapting and that attachment will stay as strong as ever with your child.
Hi, Amanda. What a thought-provoking post. I recently went through a situation where my oldest daughter told my ex-husband that she was going to find a man who was the opposite of him. She feels he hasn't been a good role-model when married or when divorced.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what will happen to her in the future. Same goes for my three other daughters. My high school senior and ninth grader don't seem interested in relationships right now, and I don't know if that's related to their father or not. It's a situation that will take time to work out.
Hi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, it was very interesting plus informative. I do agree that divorce can be such a hard event, it can leave damaged both partners and even children. For children, they do feel mistrust when it comes to relationships, they do not want to go through what their parents did which is so unfortunate because it holds them back. My parents are not divorced but I had a friend who had parents who were divorce and she is not the relationship type; she does have those concerns that were caused by her parents’ divorce. I really like how you ended your post with a positive, you are right, people should know that just because their parent’s marriage ended in divorce does not mean theirs will. People need to have a change in mindset and focus more on the positives instead of the negative which is divorce.
Hi Amanda,I really enjoyed reading your post and I think it was very well written! I would definitely have to agree with your perspective on divorce being a very difficult event for anyone to go through. This type of event is can be very traumatic and will inevitably impact multiple aspects of one's life. I personally have divorced parents and they seem to be much happier apart than they ever were together, which makes me believe that in some cases divorce is the right choice. However, I do believe that if both partners make the effort every day to keep their relationship satisfying, this is something that can hopefully be avoided. With this being said, I like how you stated that marriage takes hard work and requires each partner to sacrifice for their spouse and choose to love them—in sickness and in health because I couldn't agree more. Overall really great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I agree with what you said about how divorce can impact a persons attachment style when they are in a relationship. I used to date someone whose parents divorced when he was in middle school. He was very insecure and kind of clingy with me and his close friends. His dad leaving was very hard on him and that definitely impacted his ability to trust others. It does however depend on the family. I also had a friend who was much happier after her parents got divorced. She said she was so tired of listening to them argue and knew they'd be happier separated. She handled it really well. Thanks for sharing
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteReading your post was very interesting and I enjoyed it. Attachment styles in relationships can be greatly influenced by parent's divorces, and I agree with you on that. I loved how you mentioned that just because an individual's parents got divorced does not mean they are going to go down the same path in their own relationships. I used to have a relationship with someone whose parents got a divorce, and his attachment was extremely disoriented with them once divorced, but his and I's relationship was very secure, and I believe that was because he was old enough to witness why his parent's marriage did not work, and made sure not to make the same mistakes they did in our relationship, let alone any of his relationships. This is such a good topic to discuss further on because many individuals do believe that their future is at a disadvantage for divorce due to their parent's marriage outcome. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
It was interesting to read about how the effects of divorce affects your mother in law and how it skewed her view on marriage. I have friends and past romantic partners who come from families with divorced parents and they all explained to me the emotional drainage that they felt from their parent’s divorce. I also found it interesting how your mother in law explained how she looked for approval from the men that she dated and how it usually caused unhealthy relationships. I am fortunate to have parents who are still together but even just seeing them fight has caused me to suffer emotionally so I can not imagine how I would feel if they were to ever split up. I agree with you that individuals who have divorced parents are not automatically at risk for not being able to develop secure relationships themselves and that through learning from couples who show strong, healthy examples of relationships is what can help those who have witnessed their parents divorcing.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this blog post, I can relate a lot. I am also a child of divorce and can see the impacts that it has made on my life. It has taught me a lot of things, especially how I do not want my family to be. Of course, I would have to agree that this has made it hard at times to trust others in a relationship. I feel as if that is a good and bad thing, but it is all rooted in seeing divorce in my family. Through my experiences, I have also learned how to love deeper and care for others in a more effective manner.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I really enjoyed reading your blog. I related to it greatly and can agree with everything you said. It is devastating and has long lasting effects on the family involved. I never realized how unconsciously I have related my parents relationship to mine. Without even knowing, I would react certain ways because of what I experienced when I was younger. It is truly shocking to see how much divorce will effect a child and their relationships around them.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog post to be informative and interesting as I have not had to handle the divorce of my own parents. I was fortunate to grow up with two parents in my life and can’t imagine how difficult it must be growing up and seeing your parents fall out of love. Even though individuals with divorced parents may have skewed perceptions of marriage, I agree that this is not permanent. I think some individuals may develop insecurities while others may use their parents failed relationship as motivation to find someone who will commit to a healthy relationship.
ReplyDeleteHello Amanda, I really enjoyed reading your blog post about the rates of divorce and how it impacts the children of divorce’s future attachments. I am fortunate that my parents are in a health relationship and have never been divorced. My current partner comes from a divorced family, and I wonder if that affects his attachment at all. I found it interesting that you explained if a child stays with their mom after the divorce, they are more likely to dislike their dad and the opposite is true as well. I like that you ended the blog with explaining how marriage is difficult and it is a choice to make it work. I think it is important to remember that.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post and thought it was really interesting. My parents aren't divorced and the majority of their friends aren't divorced so I never really knew what a problem divorce was until I started taking HDFS classes about couples and families. I think a lot of people forget how hard marriage is and that even after getting married, both partners need to try and contribute to the relationship and keep doing the things they did at the beginning of the relationship. I don't think divorce is inevitable and just because you are a child of divorce doesn't mean you will get a divorce too. It doesn't surprise me that if a child stays with their mom after a divorce, the child is more likely to dislike their dad. My parents went through a rough patch and I spent more time with my mom during that period and her feelings rubbed off on me and I experienced negative feelings about my dad so I think that is definitely true. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Amanda, this post was extremely relatable for me. I thought you did a good job showing the different feelings associated with having divorced parents. I thought it was really interesting that the interviewee was involved in a few unhealthy relationships due to her view of men as a result of her parents’ divorce. She has been married for 30 years, which makes me hopeful for my own future since my parents also divorced when I was younger. At the same time, not everyone has the same experience with dealing with divorced parents. Nevertheless, I whole-heartedly agree that we must learn from our parent’s mistakes and really put in the work in order to have a successful relationship and foster a secure attachment.
ReplyDeleteWell, being that my parents are divorced currently, my whole life I kind of thought that it would be inevitable in my future as well. I am not trying to manifest this, but how can someone love another person for eternity? Are soul mates just a made-up story to give humans a false sense of hope? I agree with you that experiencing divorce does not determine our “fate” but it can definitely contribute to it. I am taking this part of my life with a grain of salt and hope your theory is correct, choosing to love someone can be stronger than we think. - Ashley Hildreth
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda! I am currently a student studying human development and family studies and we just learned about divorce. We focused more on the couple getting divorced, so I thought it was very interesting to read on how it impacts the children. I like how you stated that even if a childs parents do get divorced, it does not mean that they will have difficulty forming healthy attachments in romantic relationships and that it is more about the efforts that you put into the relationships! You did a great job at providing examples and giving explanations. Great job with this post!
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting read. Luckily, I do not know a lot of people whose parents got divorced. I wonder if being a child from a family that did not get divorced but should have affects attachment differently than having parents that divorced. I also like that you brought up the fact that our parents' marriages do not determine our fate. I found it interesting how if someone lives with their mom after a divorce, they have a screwed perception of men and vise versa. I agree that we can learn from our parents' mistakes and change our future or learn from our parents' relationship successes. All in all, this was a great and informative post!
Hi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI found this read to be very interesting as I come from a divorced family. I always thought that the reason behind my own romantic attachments came from my parents splitting up but, after reading this I think that my perspective may have changed. I agree that when you live with one parent more than the other you start to despise a specific gender and have have a negative association. I lived with my mother most of the time and had the same feeling towards my father as your mother-in-law expressed. I think that this information will help me better understand my relationship. I find that it is all about learning and adapting to new experiences that my partner and I may face.
I am a child of divorce which has drastically changed my mindset on relationships. I also did not want to get married for a long time after they got divorced because I thought it was inevitable for my relationship not to last. My current partner has not experienced divorce so it's nice to look at his parents and see their relationship and how they have grown over the past years of being together. Although my parents did get a divorce, they still have a very good relationship with each other which is very helpful for my brother and I and the rest of the family. One thing that I have committed to is working out my marriage. I want to have a good relationship and show my children what a good healthy relationship looks like, and I am not willing to get a divorce period since I went through that as a kid I do not want to put my kids through that at all and that is my main goal.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda! – I found your blog post extremely interesting because everyone has heard someone say “divorce is inevitable” or “everyone gets a divorce” which I agree is not necessarily true. There are a few people in my family who have been divorced, and I have seen the impacts it has on their children especially as they grow into adulthood. It was interesting to learn about how children’s interpretations and opinions are influenced by who they end up living with after the divorce, as historically the court sides with the mother and fathers have lower supervision rights. This post was very interesting and relatable, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda, I personally have never experienced the divorce of a parent but I have had other close friends that have gone through this experience. From being around them it is a very difficult time, in which you have done a really good job explaining the effects of divorce has on an individual. I think that as a child seeing love just disappear between parents can have a really negative impact on them. As a child one may watch fairy tails and then have this expectation when in reality the child experiences this traumatic event. I think in the case of your mother in law she is one of the more unique cases of children of divorce because there are trends where those children lead on to have an insecure attachment style.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting topic to me, as someone who grew up in a family with an extremely high divorce rate. Due to this experience growing up, I tend to have a hard time conceptualizing the idea of relationships that last forever, as I have not observed many of those that exist in my own life. I would like to believe that forever relationships exist and that they can exist happily, as opposed to simply continuing to exist because of choices made to maintain other responsibilities. However, due to my experience growing up, I am not sure that is the case. I suppose I will eventually find out, if I ever decide to seek out a marital union in the future!
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda, I started to hear this statistic about divorce constantly when I entered college, and especially when I declared HDFS as my major. I have read a lot about couples, attachment, and development and this theme is always highlighted. I must admit it has scared me a lot knowing that so many marriages end in divorce, the reasons they do and the outcomes. Divorce is ugly, my parents were never legally married, but after 20 years together their separation was difficult to manage. They always said they were done, but never actually were. It was to my surprise they separated during my junior year of high school. It was one of the most difficult times of my life and has affected my perception on relationships and divorce.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe there is a “divorce gene”, which says if your parents are divorced, that automatically means you will get divorced one day, too. However, I wonder if some children pick up similar attitudes and characteristics of their parents that may lead to similar outcomes. For example, I learned in another class that children of their biological parents have an increased chance of having similar marital outcomes to their parents (versus children who were adopted). This could be due to things like self-control and emotional stability that is carried on to the children, which therefore play a role in relationships.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post; I think that divorce is an important topic to talk about; many people have thought about it or have had a close friend or family go through it. I agree that it can affect how the children of divorced parents see marriage in the future, but I think it might not work for the parents, but marriage might work for the children. From personal experience, one of my aunts went through a divorce and then found the love of her life, and her daughter found her husband the second week of college, so it is different for everyone. I think children shouldn’t feel like it will never work out for them because it could possibly be different for them. Overall great job!
I found this post rather interesting. I have always heard that children of divorce have a hard time finding secure relationships and are at a higher risk of divorce in adulthood. It was really interesting to read stories about this not being the case. I think that one's experience with their parents divorce can play a role in how one view's marriage, but that doesn't mean they won't find someone that they want to be with forever. Overall, I think this post does a really good job at showing how one's experiences may not predict their future. I also think that while divorce may play a role in one’s view of marriage during adolescents, as people get older their view might change through the growth they do.
ReplyDeleteHello! This blog post was so interesting, and I loved hearing about your future mother in laws experience. Luckily, my parents have been married for 30 years and are still madly in love. The success of their marriage has taught me about the joys of marriage and the strength it takes to make it work. I am very grateful to have such wonderful role models in my life, and to show me what a healthy marriage looks like. However, all my friends are children of divorce. I have learned a lot about the effects of divorce and the impact it has on families through my friendships. For example, like your future mother-in-law, my friend sought out approval and attention from men. Being a child of divorce does not mean you too will experience divorce; however, it can negatively impact one's attachment style.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Being a child of divorced parents, I fully felt the fact that I never wanted to get married. My parents had three kids together and after everything they went through it didn’t work out. Why would I want to ‘waste’ so much time with someone when there is the chance it ends in heartbreak and pain? For being a child of divorce, I am one of the lucky ones. I was so young when it happened I never remembered them together or have to watch the divorce and my parents get along great. I always had a great relationship with both of my parents but the thought of marriage was very tainted for me. In the last few years my views on relationships have changed a lot and now I am with a partner who I can’t wait to marry and have a family with. The thought that it could go wrong maybe lingers with me more than someone who doesn’t have divorced parents, like my fiancé, but I am at a point where everything is an experience and what you make of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this blog about divorce. I liked reading about how there is a different experience for children of divorce in building and maintaining relationships. I do think that there are children of divorce who do not end up in a failed relationship. I think that there are so many important factors that go into avoiding divorce. I personally think it is a great idea to go through engagement counseling to allow both partners to set expectations and goals in marriage, but also learn how to resolve and deal with conflict. This connects to your ending thought that it is important to learn from good experiences and learn what a strong, healthy relationship looks like.
I always think about getting married and as much as it is a dream it is also something that terrifies me. My parents’ relationship has not always been the best and my siblings and I have had to deal with all of their instability. This has not only changed the way I see relationships but also the way I see the idea of marriage as a whole. I hope that this will allow me to put my all into marriage when the time comes. However I am very scared of the concept and I do now want to get divorced. I definitely want to hold off on marriage until I have healed and worked on all of my personal issues so that does not get into the way of my marriage. It is definitely interesting to see how children of divorce are all so different. Some of them might be repulsed by the idea of marriage and might carry all of their baggage into their relationships. Others might be motivated to create a healthy family life of their own due to their negative experiences at home.
ReplyDeleteAlthough divorce is at an all time high, I do believe that divorce is not always the outcome. In my culture, it is very rare for couples to divorce because it affects the whole family, not just their relationship. My family does not believe in divorce. However, I see how toxic this mindset can be. In hispanic culture infidelity, toxicity, and abuse is often overlooked because families do not want to go through the shame of divorce. However, after reading the blog, I believe it is important to consider how divorce can be helpful rather than detrimental to a family.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, it brought an interesting perspective on the influence of parental divorce on their own relationship. In my own life, I’ve seen similar patterns. A close friend whose parents went through a contentious divorce initially struggled with trust and relationship stability. However, through therapy and self-reflection, she managed to build a strong, secure relationship. This underscores the importance of personal development and the proactive steps we take to learn from both positive and negative examples. I think that one important thing to note is that while early experiences shape us, they don’t seal our fate.
ReplyDeleteDivorce can deeply affect children, shaping their views on relationships. I've experienced this firsthand with my parents' divorce. The impact has been significant, influencing my own approach to romantic relationships.
ReplyDeleteMy parents' divorce left me feeling uncertain about relationships. I often worried about repeating their mistakes and struggled with trust and commitment. This has been a challenge in my own romantic life, as I sometimes find it hard to fully invest in relationships.
For me, learning from my parent's struggles and seeking positive role models has been crucial. Understanding how to address and overcome these challenges has helped me work toward healthier relationships.