Child custody battles can cause stress in children

 Posted on May 01, 2015 in Child Custody

Although couples often fight over the marital home and other significant assets during an Illinois divorce proceeding, one of the greatest areas of contention is often child custody. Both parents may naturally want to keep the kids, thus leaving the children stuck in the middle of a heated child custody battle. Research, however, shows that a child is actually the healthiest mentally when the child can split his or her time between both of the divorced parents.

The research shows that a child who has two separate homes, and move often, report being less stressed than a child who lives in just one of the parents' homes after a divorce. As part of the study, researchers examined data on about 150,000 students between the ages of 12 and 15. They examined psychosomatic issues, such as difficulty concentrating, sleep problems, feeling tense and stomach aches.

Children were more likely to exhibit fewer of the psychosomatic issues when they lived with both parents after divorce. This shows that it is generally more important for the relationship between two divorced parents to be stable than for the housing situation to be stable for a child. The idea of co-parenting has received increasing attention in the media recently because of its positive effects on the entire family.

Following a divorce in Illinois, both parents typically have an equal right to child custody. They can strive to amicably create a parenting agreement on their own through the process of divorce mediation, which may be beneficial to both parents as well as to the children. However, if the parents cannot come to an agreement on who will get to keep and/or see the kids, the judge will ultimately decide who gets child custody, focusing most importantly on what is in the best interest of the child.

Source: yahoo.com, "The Divorce Custody Arrangement That Benefits Kids Most", Beth Greenfield, April 28, 2015