As summarized by columnist Maggie Gallagher: "Even among advantaged, middle-class white children, divorce doubles the risk that 20 years later adult children would experience serious social, emotional, and/or psychological dysfunction." Mavis Hetherington, a respected psychologist in the field, found that the adult children of divorce had twice the divorce rate of kids from intact families, and that only 20 percent of adults who saw their marriages end feel their lives have been enhanced by the experience. - 1/28/07 Virginia Free-LanceStar

At the statistical level there is evidence to associate growing up in single-parent families and stepfamilies with greater risk to well-being–including a greater risk of dropping out of school, of leaving home early, or poorer health, of low skills, and of low pay. (p. 23) Child Poverty in Perspective <http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-file"

Most researchers reported that STEPCHILDREN were similar to children living with single mothers on the preponderance of outcome measures and that stepchildren were at greater risk for problems than were children living with both of their parents." - The Journal of Marriage and Family s/Society/documents/2007/02/14/UNchildwellbeing.pdf>