Kiana Josain

Do Single Parent Homes Affect Children’s Behavior?

Mom and dad. Those are the two most important figures a child can have in life. As children grow up, the need for guidance and affection from a parent or a guardian is an important factor to have in a child’s life because it is essential for their growth and development. Without a parental figure present during adolescence, a child will be deprived of the guidance needed for their learning process. The lack of love and attention from a missing parent may also take a toll on their mental health. The effect on a child’s behavior who lives in a single parent home often differs from the behavior of a child who grows up having both parents physically present in their lives. Children living under one parent are susceptible to bigger changes in behavior than those with both parents, because they are expected to adapt to an absent parental figure.   

  The topic of single parent homes and its effects on children’s behavior is a significant matter because it can be relevant to many situations worldwide. In many cases, children who lose a parent, whether it is from parent separation (divorce) or from a tragic death, must deal with the lack of having an authoritative figure available. Consequently, most of the responsibility is shifted to the remaining adult in the child’s life, or the children themselves. In the novel, The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the chapter “Alicia Who Sees Mice” touches upon the topic of single parent families. Alicia, whose mother passed away, must deal with the challenges of carrying the same responsibilities that was once her mother’s. Her father’s insistence that Alicia should take over the duties of “waking up early and making the lunchbox tortillas” is one of the expectations that she is pressured to fulfill since her mother’s death. 

In many cases, children with single parents are often pressured to take on a different role that shapes them into a more mature, responsible, and independent person at a young age, as Alex Kecskes elaborates in his article, Parenting: Forcing Kids to Become Too Responsible After Divorce Can Hurt in Long Run. The child is sometimes burdened with filling in for the mature roles that was intended for the missing parent and becomes more “parentified,” which can create a major impact on the child’s development. Kecskes explains, “This can result in the child becoming stuck in a particular developmental age, unable to be self-sufficient, while their peers mature and experience age-appropriate events around them. Or it can lead to the child growing up too quickly and, ultimately, regressing back to a childhood state, acting reckless and irresponsible, once the child reaches adulthood.” The effect that single parenting has on the child can lead them to feel obligated to grow up faster and to take on more responsibilities, which can affect their growth severely and cause them to waste their youth. This situation does not often apply to children with intact families because their parents assume the role of taking on responsibilities and tasks rather than the children.

Often, when there is a physical absence of a parental figure, the overall family structure is affected. In Effects of Family Interaction on the Child’s Behavior in Single-Parent or Reconstructed Families from Family Process Volume 41, Issue 4, the authors of the article state that  “The physically close but psychologically distant parent-child interaction seemed to affect the child’s behavior detrimentally, whereas children with physically and psychologically close interaction with their parents showed less behavioral problems.” If there is only one parent present, parental involvement and good communication is significantly important to fill in the gap that is missing in the child's lives. Without a strong psychological bond in a parent-child relationship, negative effects on the child’s behavior can develop. These negative effects can include increased frustration, aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Additionally, the article also provided surveys that were conducted in an attempt to analyze children’s behavior to living in single parent households or reconstructed families. One survey concluded that children who lack a strong interaction with their parent were more likely to develop behavioral problems at school. These observations can tie into the importance that parental involvement and good communication in a child’s life can have on the mental health for the child.

In some situations, the youth development and education of a child without a father were examined to see if there were any behavioral differences occurring from living with one parent. Some statistical results concluded that most gang members originate from single parent homes and most children from these homes drop out from their education. Compare to intact families, single parent households experienced more behavioral changes.

 In the Family Structure and Children’s Health and Behavior Data From the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families by Ming Wen, it discusses the importance that family environment and resources have on children’s behavior and emotions. When the family environment excludes one parental figure, these children have to go through a readjustment phase. For instance, changes that take place after the death of a parent can include the lack of financial resources, introduction of a new parental figure (or step parent), or even relocation to a new home, which may involve readjusting to the area and reestablishing social connections and friendships. Children with both parents can benefit from financial resources as opposed to those living in a single parent household because two people are providing the income for the family. Financial support can also relate to children’s academic performance in their school environment. At times, children who live under one parent tend to perform lower in school because of the economic differences that are caused by an absence of one parental figure. The introduction of a new parental figure in a child’s life can affect a child emotionally as well. One might feel uneasy and reject the idea of a new guardian to replace the one that is gone. Violent behavior, such as lashing out, can occur as a result. In the scenario of relocation to a new residence, the child is faced with adjustment difficulties of making new friends and maintaining healthy peer friendships with others. 

Some may argue that children living under one parent are not entirely more susceptible to bigger changes in behavior than those with both parents. Children in intact families can also experience changes in behavior similar to those with only one parent. For instance, losing a best friend or close family member to cancer can greatly affect a person’s behavior. A child can experience frustration, anxiety, and aggression from this loss, which are the same experiences that children can have when they lose a parental figure in their life. However, children living with both parents experience less severe changes compared to children with single parent households because a parent is a dominant influence in a child's life. Often, children in intact families do not experience the change of responsibility that occurs when a parental figure is missing in their lives, and they don’t have to go through the readjustment phase that usually follows after the absence of a parent.   

Ultimately, a missing parental figure can lead to big changes in a child’s life. For instance, the loss of a parent can result to the shifting of responsibilities. The children can feel pressured to become more mature in order to make up for the missing parent in their lives and to offer help to the remaining parent present. This can lead to the disruption of their development stages because they are deprived of experiencing their childhood by taking care of adult matters. Parent-child interaction is also an important factor in determining the well being of a child with one parent. Without a strong bond, living in a single parent household will be difficult and can greatly impact a child’s behavior. The lack of financial resources is also a factor that differentiates between single parent incomes versus an income from two parents. Income also shows an effect on the academic performance that children do at school. Overall, children face bigger changes when only one parental figure is physically present because they are faced with the challenges of adjusting to the situation as opposed to children with intact families.