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 US study found.

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 internalizing 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."

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.

一项调查发现，父母离异会致使孩子学习成绩下降，不愿与其他小朋友交往。
这些孩子会感到焦虑、孤单和悲伤，他们的学习成绩往往很差，可能永远也赶不上班里的其他孩子。

美国研究人员进行的这项调查发现，感情不合的夫妻在还没有正式离婚前，他们上小学的孩子并没有任何异常表现，这与之前的调查有所不同。

刊登在《美国社会学评论》上的这篇调查报告称，这些夫妻一旦真正决定分手，他们的孩子则会因此长期受到各种各样的困扰。

这项调查历时五年，追踪采访了3585名年龄在四岁左右的儿童，并将家庭幸福美满的儿童和父母离异的儿童的情商和智商进行了对比。

威斯康辛大学麦迪逊分校的金向熙（音译）是这项调查的负责人，他说：“父母离异的儿童在数学测试中得分不高，他们性格比较内向，也不善于和同学交往，常常会表现得不安、孤僻、自卑和自怨自艾。”

这些孩子看到自己的父母闹离婚，争夺抚养权，他们内心会承受巨大的压力，因而学习成绩下滑厉害。

金向熙（音译）称，父母的离异迫使孩子不得不在两个家庭间穿插，这种不稳定的成长环境也不利于他们发展自己的社会关系。

离婚导致的另一个问题是父母离婚后家庭收入突然降低，或某一方因离婚而一蹶不振，无法工作，生活一下子变得拮据起来。

这项调查向我们展示了一个破碎的家庭会给少年儿童造成多坏的影响。

英国的一项相关的调查显示，同完整家庭的儿童相比，离异家庭的儿童患精神方面疾病的概率要高出五倍。