Divorce in childhood can have a longstanding impact on a child, including how attentive the child will be toward its aging parents in the future.

That’s the conclusion reached by a Temple University researcher, who publishes his findings in the Advances in Life Course Research journal.

In particular, it is the transitions experienced by the child in the aftermath of divorce and the child’s age at the time of those transitions that determine how the child and its long term relationships with its parents will be influenced.

The study also found that stepchildren are far less likely than biological children to closely attend to aging (step)parents.

Read more in this EurekAlert! science news article: Divorce foretells child’s future care for elderly parent.