| Keywords [eng] |
Divorce, children of divorce, social well-being, stress, anxiety, depression, parents, substance abuse, growth and development, obesity, chronic conditions |
| Abstract [eng] |
Background: Divorce as the ending of a marriage between two people leads to many consequences, including relocation and moving of separated spousal partners, stress, emotional impact, breakage, deterioration of parent-child relationships, trust issues, and mental health issues. Objective: The systematic review was conducted to synthesize information on the impact of health on the health of family members. Hypothesis: Divorce has no health impact on family members Data Sources:Data was collected from two online databases; PubMed and Science Direct. Study Eligibility Criteria: Peer-reviewed articles within the year range of January 1, 2017 and April 1, 2022. Articles were supposed to be fully accessible. Articles were to be written in the English language. Articles were to focus on the impacts of divorce on the health of family members. Methodology: The study employed a thematic synthesis methodology that analyzed data identified, coded, and generated specific themes toward the research topic of the systematic review. Study Appraisal: The study was appraised through the 10-question checklist of the Critical Appraisal Skill Programme (CASP) appraisal tool. Results: The analysis of data resulted in the evidence revealing that divorce has health impacts on family members. Amongst children, divorce led to psychological and mental health concerns that attributed to increased drug and substance abuse, alcoholism, poor academic performances, increased physical injuries, increased suicidal tendencies, poor oral health, and deterioration in the growth and development of children. Amongst parents, the research revealed increased psychological and mental health concerns. Limitations: While searching for articles for the research, there were limited databases to search data. The systematic review process is a time consuming process having to read full articles to validate their authenticity and use in research. Some articles held vital information towards the research, but had to be excluded because of their inaccessibility. Conclusion: The study showed that divorce has an impact on health of family members. Research showed increased stress, anxiety, and depression amongst children of divorce led to decreased social well-being, low self-esteem, increased confrontations that led to physical injuries, suicidal tendencies, malnutrition, obesity, and the development of chronic condition in the future. Parents undergoing marital discord and dissolution should be provided with counseling sessions to help alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression before they turn into chronic conditions for children in the future. Conflict of Interest: None Funding: None. |
