Which emotional response might children experience due to parental divorce?

The emotional response that children often experience as a result of parental divorce includes sadness and anxiety. This is due to the significant changes in their family structure, which can lead to feelings of loss and uncertainty. Children may mourn the end of their parents' marriage and the stability it provided. This can manifest as sadness over the disruption of family life, along with anxiety about what the future holds, whether it concerns worrying about where they will live, how often they will see each parent, or changes in their daily routines.

While joy and excitement, confusion and happiness, or indifference and detachment might be possible, they do not typically represent the most common emotional reactions to the experience of divorce. Joy and excitement could be experienced in some cases where children believe the divorce might lead to a healthier environment, but these are not the prevailing or typical emotional responses. Confusion could accompany the sadness and anxiety, but it is unlikely to be paired with happiness given the context of divorce. Indifference and detachment, while they might occur in some individuals as a coping mechanism, often arise from deeper issues and do not reflect the genuine emotional turmoil most children feel.