Thursday, September 07, 2006

Academics and divorce

A University of Florida study found that "girls between first- and 10th-grades whose parents divorced scored an average of slightly more than eight points higher on standardized reading and mathematics tests than girls whose parents filed for divorce but later requested the case be dismissed. These differences persisted four years after the divorce, he said.

"No academic differences were found for boys, although they did experience a short-term increase in disciplinary problems"

3 comments:

Mindy Richmond said...

I wonder if they considered that those higher scores could just be a result of the perfectionism seen in many children of divorce, the perfectionism many kids develop as a means to feel some sense of control in the wake of the divorce.

Brad Carlson said...

Hi Kristine.

I don't recall how I stumbled upon your blog but I'm glad I did.

My parents divorced when I was 3 and my brother was 1. We didn't see much of our Dad after that, including an eight year span from when I was 8 until I was 16.

I'm not here to promote my blog but I thought I would share some anecdotes regarding the struggles in my relationship with my Dad.


http://bradley1969.blogspot.com/2006/02/o-father-where-art-thou.html

http://bradley1969.blogspot.com/2006/05/prodigal-father-returns.html

Kristine said...

Thanks for sharing, Brad. I'll have to check out your posts.

Mindy, I think you're right. Elizabeth Marquardt's research shows that a lot of us becoming extremely successful outwardly, but still struggle inwardly.