Effects of parental separation and divorce on very young children

Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Stud y of Early Child Care were analyzed to explore effects of marital separatio n on children hi the first 3 years of life. The sample included 73 never-ma rried mothers and 97 separated mothers; a comparison group of 170 was condi tionally randomly selected from the 2-parent families. Children in 2-parent families performed better than children in 1-parent families on assessment s of cognitive and social abilities, problem behavior, attachment security, and behavior with mother. However, controlling for mothers' education and family income reduced these differences, and associations with separated-in tact marital status were nonsignificant (the effect size was .01). Thus, ch ildren's psychological development was not affected by parental separation per se; it was related to mothers' income, education, ethnicity, childreari ng beliefs, depressive symptoms, and behavior.