Facebook and divorce have been linked to each other in a new study. Facebook and other social media have fundamentally changed how people create and maintain relationships. However, a new study indicates that Facebook may be harmful to romantic relationships. New research to be published in the Journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking has found that people with high usage rates of Facebook (defined in the study as checking Facebook accounts approximately every hour) are much more likely to experience “Facebook-related conflict with their romantic partners, which then may cause negative relationship outcomes including emotional and physical cheating, breakup and divorce.
The study’s author noted that previous research has demonstrated that the more a person in a romantic relationship uses Facebook, the more likely that person is to stringently monitor their partner’s Facebook activity, which can lead to jealousy, distrust and arguments about past partners. The study further found that persons with high levels of Facebook usage were more likely to reconnect with past romantic partners, which, the author states “may lead to physical and emotional cheating.”
Although this trend was particularly pronounced in couples who had been together for three years or less, the trend was also found in couples with more established relationships as well. To avoid this conflict, the authors suggest that the use of Facebook be moderated by high frequency users to lower, healthier levels to reduce the likelihood of inflicting damage on the romantic relationship through jealousy, distrust and reconnecting with past romantic partners.
Facebook and other forms of social networking appear to playing a more and more significant role in Texas divorce and child custody cases. In the Harris County courts, Houston divorce lawyers frequently see social media issues arise as evidentiary issues in hearings and trial regarding photographs and statements posted by parties.
Also, as suggested by this new study, social media appears to be also playing a larger role in the driving motivator for parties to file these cases in Houston family law courts such as in cases where a spouse’s extra-marital affair is inadvertently revealed on a social media site. With social media, as in many areas of life, the old saying rings true – don’t post anything on Facebook that you wouldn’t want your mother to see.
New Study Links Facebook and Divorce
/in Divorce Law /by Erik LarsonFacebook and divorce have been linked to each other in a new study. Facebook and other social media have fundamentally changed how people create and maintain relationships. However, a new study indicates that Facebook may be harmful to romantic relationships. New research to be published in the Journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking has found that people with high usage rates of Facebook (defined in the study as checking Facebook accounts approximately every hour) are much more likely to experience “Facebook-related conflict with their romantic partners, which then may cause negative relationship outcomes including emotional and physical cheating, breakup and divorce.
The study’s author noted that previous research has demonstrated that the more a person in a romantic relationship uses Facebook, the more likely that person is to stringently monitor their partner’s Facebook activity, which can lead to jealousy, distrust and arguments about past partners. The study further found that persons with high levels of Facebook usage were more likely to reconnect with past romantic partners, which, the author states “may lead to physical and emotional cheating.”
Although this trend was particularly pronounced in couples who had been together for three years or less, the trend was also found in couples with more established relationships as well. To avoid this conflict, the authors suggest that the use of Facebook be moderated by high frequency users to lower, healthier levels to reduce the likelihood of inflicting damage on the romantic relationship through jealousy, distrust and reconnecting with past romantic partners.
Facebook and other forms of social networking appear to playing a more and more significant role in Texas divorce and child custody cases. In the Harris County courts, Houston divorce lawyers frequently see social media issues arise as evidentiary issues in hearings and trial regarding photographs and statements posted by parties.
Also, as suggested by this new study, social media appears to be also playing a larger role in the driving motivator for parties to file these cases in Houston family law courts such as in cases where a spouse’s extra-marital affair is inadvertently revealed on a social media site. With social media, as in many areas of life, the old saying rings true – don’t post anything on Facebook that you wouldn’t want your mother to see.
Early Divorce Can Affect the Parent-Child Relationship for Many Years
/2 Comments/in Divorce Law /by Erik LarsonNew research suggests that early divorce has a greater impact on the child-parent relationship if the divorce occurs in the first few years of the child’s life. In fact, early divorce in children’s lives can affect their later relationships. A new study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that very young children who witness their parents’ divorce tend to have more insecure relationships with their parents, even into adulthood, when compared to children who witness their parents’ divorce at an older age. However, regardless of what age the children were when their parents divorced, the study found that people from divorced families were less likely to view their current relationships with their parents as reliable.
Interestingly, early divorce tends to affect some, but not all, of these children’s relationships later in life. Parental divorce tended to predict greater insecurity with people’s relationship with their fathers, rather than their mothers.
The authors explain that a person who has a secure relationship with a parent feels like he or she can trust the parent, is comfortable depending on the parent and is confident that the parent will be psychologically available to that person when needed.
For Texas parents going through a divorce, particularly with very young children, it is critically important for parents to understand how a child understands and perceives a secure relationship with his or her parents. Additionally, divorcing parents should make a conscious effort to develop and build the sense of trust that a child has in each parent so that the child feels that he or she can depend on the parent to be both physically present and psychologically present to support the child.
When parents are structuring child custody arrangements in Houston family law courts, they should both be mindful of the importance of each parent’s relationship with the child and how that relationship can build the child’s trust, security and well-being. After divorce, the continuity of both parents being present in the child’s life will increase the child’s sense of security and trust in their parents as the children will know that they can count on and depend on both Mom and Dad being there and doing what they say will do.