The effects of divorce on children are of course important to any good parent. But it's not always easy, when your marriage is struggling and you're hurting, to consider what the specific effects of divorce will be on your kids. When you consider your options, make sure to at least reflect on the effects of divorce on your children.

Here are some effects of divorce that children often face:

Future effects of divorce

Children deal with the effects of divorce not only as children, but into adulthood. The effects of divorce will impact the next generation of children as well.

The child's suffering from the effects of divorce does not reach its peak at the time of the divorce and then level off. Rather, the emotional effects of divorce can be played and replayed throughout a child's life.

Academic effects of divorce

Children from divorced families drop out of school at twice the rate of children from intact families, and they have lower rates of graduation from high school and college.

Children from divorced homes performed more poorly in reading, spelling, and math and repeated a grade more frequently than did children not facing the effects of divorce.

Social effects of divorce

Children of divorced parents are significantly more likely to become delinquent by age 15, regardless of when the divorce took place, than are children not dealing with the effects of divorce.

The single best predictor of teen suicide is parental divorce and living in a single-parent household.

Comparing all family structures, drug use in children is lowest among children not facing the effects of divorce.

Emotional effects of divorce

Divorce has been found to be associated with a higher incidence of depression; withdrawal from friends and family; aggressive, impulsive, or hyperactive behavior; and either withdrawing from participation in the classroom or becoming disruptive.

Adult children of divorced parents experience mental health problems significantly more often than do the adult children who didn't witness the effects of divorce as children.

Relational effects of divorce

After divorce, children tend to become more emotionally distant from both parents.

As adults, children of divorced parents are half as likely to be close to their parents as are children not dealing with the effects of divorce.

In their own marriages, children of divorced parents are more likely to be unhappy, to escalate conflicts, and to reduce communication with their spouses.

Some studies concerning the probability of divorce for children of divorced parents have found the risk to be more than twice the risk for children who haven't personally experienced the effects of divorce.

We at eHarmony Marriage are committed to helping couples strengthen their marriages, not only for the sake of the two spouses, but for the sake of the whole family. We're aware that sometimes divorce seems to be the only option, and the above information about the effects of divorce is not at all meant to discourage those who through no fault of their own are divorced. But we do want to encourage anyone who is still married to think about all of the effects of divorce before making a decision that will have long-reaching ramifications for everyone involved.