Divorce has a devastating impact on the children of divided couples, leading to poor examination results and driving them to abuse alcohol or drugs, according to a survey being made public today.
Almost two thirds of children whose parents divorced said that the break-up affected their GCSEs. One in eight said that they had turned to drugs or alcohol to ease the stress.
Divorce also appears to trigger eating disorders, with almost one in three children saying that they ate more, or less, after the family break-up. Each year about 100,000 under-16s experience divorce. The survey of children and young people aged 14 to 22 was commissioned by Resolution, the 6,500-strong association of family lawyers in England and Wales. Jo Edwards, its chairman, said the