WHAT ARE FACTORS WITHIN THE CHILD WHICH PREDICT GOOD AND BAD OUTCOMES FROM DIVORCE AND POST-DIVORCE CONFLICT?
(40) The child’s temperament is a strong factor in predicting poor outcomes to divorce and various visitation arrangements. Children with disruptive, acting-out temperaments experience poorer outcomes than those with easy temperaments. (Block, Block, Gjerde, 1986; Hetherington, 1991; Kasen, et al., 1996; Grych Fincham, 1997). (41) Boys with difficult temperaments fare very poorly with divorce, and these boys can be identified as young as age 3 (Amato Booth, 1996; Block, Block, Gjerde, 1986; Cherlin, et al., 1991; Jouriles, et al., 1991). This seems to be due to a complex interaction between the genetic transmission of certain temperament factors, poor parenting, high levels of marital conflict, and even the destructive effect of the boys’ behavior on what was already a poor marriage. (42) Cognitive style is also a factor. Children who can “reframe” the divorce in a positive way do better than those who don’t (Radovanovic, 1993). Similarly, those children who appraise the divorce with a
