By Jenny Hope

2nd June 2011

Children struggle with maths and making friends when their parents divorce, a study has found.

They often fall behind classmates whose parents stay married, suffering from anxiety, loneliness and feeling sad – and may never catch up academically.

Contrary to some previous research, children through primary school did not show any negative effects before the parents decided to split, the U.S. study found.

Permanent damage: Children struggle socially and academically when their parents divorce, a new study has found. (Picture posed by model)

But as soon as the divorce process started, the children suffered a range of problems that persisted, a report in the American Sociological Review said.

The five-year study compared emotional and academic development of children of divorce with those whose parents stayed together, by following 3,585 children from around the age of four.

‘Children of divorce experience setbacks in maths test scores and show problems with interpersonal skills and internalising behaviour,’ lead researcher Hyun Sik Kim, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said.

‘They are more prone to feelings of anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem and sadness.’

Recriminations: Children can suffer as a result of seeing parents blame each other or battle over custody

This stabilised after the divorce, he said, ‘but the children remain behind their peers from intact families’.

‘My original prediction was that children of divorce would experience negative impacts even before formal divorce processes began. But the study finds this is not the case.’

Possible causes for the setbacks include stress the children experience as result of seeing their parents blaming each other for the divorce or arguing about custody.

An unstable living situation in which children are shuttled between parents can also disrupt social networks, he said.

Other problems include economic hardship due to a sudden drop in family income or a parent suffering depression as a result of the divorce.

The study adds to a wealth of data showing children suffer badly from parental break-up.

British research showed children of broken families are five times more likely to suffer damaging mental troubles than those whose parents stay together.

The ark is nearly three storeys high

A half-sized replica of the biblical Noah’s Ark has been built by a Dutch man, complete with model animals.

Dutch creationist Johan Huibers built the ark as testament to his literal belief in the Bible.

The ark, in the town of Schagen, is 150 cubits long – half the length of Noah’s – and three storeys high. A cubit was about 45cm (18in) long.

The ark opened its doors on Saturday, after almost two years’ construction, most of it by Mr Huiber himself.

‘Past comprehension’

“The design is by my wife, Bianca,” Mr Huibers said. “She didn’t really want me to do this at all, but she said if you’re going to anyway, it should look like this.”

Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras and bison are included in the ark’s interior.

The Bible’s Book of Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most tamed animals and one breeding pair of all other creatures in the boat, which survived a catastrophic flood sent down by God to punish man.

Mr Huibers spent nearly two years building the ark

Mr Huibers, a contractor, built the ark out of cedar and pine – because Biblical scholars are still not sure as to which type of wood was used in the ark’s construction.

He began building in May 2005, after he dreamed of the Netherlands being flooded.

“In February 1992, I had a dream that Holland will become flooded. The next day, I found a book about Noah’s Ark in the local bookshop, and since then, my dream has been to build the ark,” he said.

Visitors were stunned. “It’s past comprehension,” Mary Louise Starosciak told the Associated Press.

“I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big.”

The ark includes a 50-seat theatre showing a segment of the Disney film Fantasia retelling the story of Noah’s Ark.

US visitor Lois Poppema told AP she thought the Netherlands was the right place for an ark to be built: “Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television .. saying that all Holland will be flooded.

“I don’t think the man who made this ever expected that global warming will become [such an important] issue – and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland.