Loss or Gain from Separation? Wealth and Child Mental Health in Divorce Dynamics

Loss or Gain from Separation? Wealth and Child Mental Health in Divorce Dynamics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Loss or Gain from Separation? Wealth and Child Mental Health in Divorce Dynamics Solano Caffarena, Sayorn Chin, Swarup Joshi, Ashish Kumar Sedai This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8622552/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper reveals critical heterogeneity in child mental health outcomes following di-vorce, driven by wealth disparities and intersecting racial and gender dynamics. Lever-aging longitudinal PSID and CDS data, we show that children in low-wealth households face a marked rise in mental disabilities post-divorce, exacerbated by parental health de-terioration and economic precarity. In contrast, high-wealth households often experience protective effects, underscoring the buffering power of financial resources. Strikingly, black female-headed households in the low wealth category bear the greatest burden, amplifying systemic inequities. The results highlight divorce as a family transition whose mental health implications depend critically on economic resources, with policy relevance for targeted support to families facing divorce under financial constraint. JEL codes: I14, J12, J13, D31 Divorce dynamics Child mental health Wealth disparities Economic pre-carity Racial and gender inequality Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8622552","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":584597955,"identity":"c435a6d5-cc37-43ff-aab7-65233f86d7b4","order_by":0,"name":"Solano Caffarena","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at Arlington","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Solano","middleName":"","lastName":"Caffarena","suffix":""},{"id":584597956,"identity":"94670f8d-5d8b-467e-a9b2-fbd5961c1d3d","order_by":1,"name":"Sayorn Chin","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA40lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCcYGBoYKCwb2BrhQAjFazkgw8BwAcg4kEKUFiBnbSNHCP7u57eHPeRLyPOxnDB9//GHDwM+eY4DfkjsH2415t0kY9vDkGBscSEhjkOx5g1+LgURimzTjNgnG/Qw5ZhIHEg4zGNwgYAtIi+TPORL2PfxvzH8cSPjPYE+MFgneBonEHokcM6D3DwBFCPnlBtBhPMckknsknhVLnElL5pE486wArxb+GenPJH/U2Nj28Cdv/FBhYyfH3568Aa8WJMABdg8PscpBgP0BKapHwSgYBaNgBAEAMtdFK+2KofIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Lafayette College","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sayorn","middleName":"","lastName":"Chin","suffix":""},{"id":584597957,"identity":"4547165b-f51a-4892-a35e-c64f3a58dc76","order_by":2,"name":"Swarup Joshi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Loyola Marymount University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Swarup","middleName":"","lastName":"Joshi","suffix":""},{"id":584597958,"identity":"fe455c81-ed60-474a-ace1-277022d2381b","order_by":3,"name":"Ashish Kumar Sedai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at Arlington","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ashish","middleName":"Kumar","lastName":"Sedai","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-16 23:38:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8622552/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8622552/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108493456,"identity":"28fe5651-ff65-4d63-b372-685bbe556342","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-05 10:00:27","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":702271,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscriptrevised.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8622552/v1_covered_926a66eb-b29e-4e92-bac4-61ac2fc19ae2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Loss or Gain from Separation? 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