Parental Divorce or Separation and Children’s Language Ability: Mediating Roles of Family Support and Temperament

Abstract

Parental divorce or separation can significantly impact early childhood development, yet its effects on preschool children’s language ability remain underexplored. Given that language plays a foundational role in both cognition and socialization, this study examines the mediating roles of family support and children’s temperament (effortful control, negative affectivity) in the relationship between parental separation and language ability. Using data from 9,823 children aged 0-5 in the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health, bootstrapped mediation analyses reveal that parental separation negatively affects language ability both directly and indirectly through reduced family support and changes in children’s temperament. These findings underscore the developmental consequences of early family instability and highlight the importance of strengthening family support systems and fostering children’s self-regulation as intervention strategies. This study contributes to family stress and coping theory and advances our understanding of how parental separation shapes early childhood development. It also provides practical insights for designing supportive programs that buffer the adverse effects of parental separation on young children’s language outcomes.