Effects of Marital Disruption on Children's School Aptitude and Achievement

The effects of marital disruption on the academic aptitude and achievement of fourthgrade children were examined by comparing children in three types of families: early disrupted single-mother, recently disrupted single-mother, and never disrupted two-parent families. The data are from a longitudinal study of a community population of school children. Outcome measures were tests of aptitude and achievement at grade 4, teacher and parent ratings of school performance at grade 3, and tests of cognitive skills at preschool screening. Analyses controlling for gender, birth order, maternal employment, and maternal education showed that children in recently disrupted single-motherfamilies had greater problems in some but not all areas of school achievement and performance than children in early disrupted single-mother families or children in never disrupted two-parent families.