‘Children living with one parent prone to problems’

CHILDREN who live with just one parent after a family break-up suffer from more problems such as headaches, stomach aches, feelings of tension and sadness than those whose parents who share custody, research has found.

A study carried out in Sweden compared how children were affected by living with both parents, only one parent, mostly one parent, or by dividing their time between both in joint custody – and found that children in the latter category suffered from fewer psychosomatic problems than those living mostly or only with one parent.

Youngsters living with both parents in a nuclear family set-up had the lowest score of all on the psychosomatic problems scale – which also measured issues such as children’s concentration, difficulties with sleeping, dizziness and loss of appetite.

The proportion of children who said they “often” or “always” had the different symptoms assessed on the scale was highest among those who lived with just one parent.

Overall, girls reported more psychosomatic problems than boys.

The study authors said that joint custody has become more common in Sweden in recent years, rising from about 1 per cent–2 per cent in the mid-1980s to up to 40 per cent of children with separated parents in 2010.

The researchers, who analysed 150,000 children aged 12 and 15 in Sweden, pointed out that several previous studies have established that children with divorced or separated parents are more likely to suffer from various emotional problems and f rom a level of social maladjustment.