WHEN PARENTS DIVORCE, their children are clearly affected in numerous ways. The most obvious changes involve new living arrangements and possibly new relationships with one or both parents. While no one would argue that divorce is a painless experience for children, there has been a great deal of debate over the years about just how deep and long-lasting the painful effects of parental divorce are on children.

To answer this question and fully examine the issue of divorce's impact on children, experts first attempt to distinguish between short- and long-term effects. Short-term effects encompass children's direct reactions to their parents' divorce during the event and in the following two years. Psychologists identity long-term effects as problems that continue for more than two years or that develop for the first time several years after the divorce—including when...