Short and long term effectsA study carried out by Hetherington and Kelly (2002) showed that 25% of people whose parents divorced have had serious long-term effects on them. , these included: social, emotional and psychological problems. The remaining 75% whose parents divorced suffered no long-term problems into adulthood (Lansford, 2009). However, divorce can be linked to behavioral problems even at a very young age, but it is usually a small number of children or adults who suffer from it with long-term effects (Lansford, 2009). It is important to note that lingering feelings do not count as long-term effects; they are natural and expected but do not count (Kelly and Emery, 2003). An important factor to consider is how long the child lived with both parents before the divorce. For example, research has shown that when a family that has been together for a long time breaks up, it can have worse and more difficult consequences to resolve. adapt to the child (Mooney, Oliver and Smith, 2009). Adjustments and short-term effects are higher in children because the child must accept the divorce. However, these symptoms lessen as the child comes to term, the family breaks up and begins to adapt, with the resulting short-term distress. Children's living conditions generally decline (Lansford, 2009; Mooney, Oliver, & Smith, 2009). Living Arrangements Another adjustment a child must make after a divorce is living arrangements, whether they are asked or told where they are going to live or not. wants to live. For example, some children are in “shared custody” and move back and forth between homes. It can be emotional, frustrating and tiring for children as they deal with the emotions of going back and forth. Another example is the... middle of paper ...... when it came to telling children under the age of ten that their parents were going to separate, only 52% remembered that their parents had said so. As noted earlier, it is more difficult for young children to accept their parents' divorce and it would be even more difficult for them to accept not knowing about it. It was also reported that 67% of children thought they should have been asked for their opinion, while 64% said they had not been asked for their opinion on the situation (Butler et al., 2002). Children reported that not having a parent explain what was happening to them made them feel excluded from decisions and from the family (Butler et al., 2002). Being informed about what is happening and what will inevitably happen seems to be an essential part of what children want in the event of a family breakdown. This is because it gives them their own control over the situation.