Marital Status Disruptions and Internalizing Disorders of Children

Abstract

Marital disruption (i.e., separation or divorce) impacts an estimated 40-50% of married couples. Previous research has shown that marital disruption results in negative health outcomes for children and adolescents. Our study aims to investigate the relationship between marital disruptions and internalizing disorders of children in a prospective cohort. Comparisons between marital status groups at each time point showed a significant difference in CBCL score between children in married and unmarried families at 3 years of age, with children in unmarried families having a 0.10 higher standardized CBCL score (95% CI: 0.09-0.12; p<.0001). Differences in CBCL score by marital status were not significant at 5 and 9 years after adjusting for confounders. Parental marital status is associated with an increased CBCL internalizing behavior score at 3 years of age, but the association disappears at later time points.