Loneliness in Children Adapting to Dual Family Life

Abstract

Children often live in two households after their parents break up, which may affect their development. We investigate feelings of loneliness among children of separated parents using two alternative hypotheses. The first assumes that children experience “dual family life” as offering opportunities or a richer source of support because of the increased number of close relatives involved in their life, which leads to reduced feelings of loneliness. The alternative hypothesis assumes that children experience stronger feelings of loneliness because of a decrease of intimacy in their personal relationships caused by their dual family life. Our results show that the feelings of loneliness children experience are not explained by their living arrangements, but are influenced by the number of post-divorce relationships their father has and by the presence of a new partner in their mother’s household.