Perceived Competence, Self-Esteem, and Anxiety in Latency-Aged Children of Divorce

Ninety-eight 9-12 year-old children from divorced families were compared to 170 demographically similar children from intact families on measures of perceived competence, self-worth, anxiety, and sources of support. Children of divorce had lower perceived cognitive competence, higher anxiety, and fewer potential sources of social support. For both groups there were low-level associations between sources of support and adjustment. The implications of the findings for further research and for preventive programming for children of divorce are considered.