DIVORCE, EFFECT OF

The results of a 1978 survey reveal that the main causes of loneliness usually have their origins in childhood. Children who were less than six years of age when parents were divorced were by far the loneliest as adults. (Cited in Human Nature, February 1979.)361

The conclusion of a five-year study by Mavis Hetherington of the University of Virginia on who is most hurt in a divorce is that “small boys are the worst victims of divorce and their painful attempts to adjust often lead them into a mutually destructive conflict with their mothers.” (Cited in Dads Only, Vol. 2, No. 9, September 1979.)362