Several resources and protective factors have been shownto moderate the link between divorce and problematic childoutcomes. First, children adjust more easily if their standardof living does not decline precipitously in the post-divorceyears. Children's adjustment also depends on how well their15 parents have adjusted to the disruption. When parents confront long-term feelings of loss or anger, their negative moodscan "spill over" and affect their children. Moreover, all children(including children of divorce) benefit when their parents engage in authoritative parenting – a parenting style that combines emotional support and responsiveness to children's needswith firmness, high expectations, and ongoing supervision.Children also do better if their parents are able to maintainpositive co-parental relationships in the post-divorce years,despite the complications of living in separate households. Itis particularly important that parents not involve their children in disputes over children's living arrangements, visitation, and child support. In general, children thrive on stability. For this reason, they tend to be better adjusted if they areable to remain in the same neighborhoods and schools following divorce. Finally, parents need to be careful not to introduce their new romantic partners into children's lives too soon.Children can form close bonds with parents' partners and stepparents, but only when they have had sufficient time to establish new norms, boundaries, and relationships with theseindividuals. (For reviews of factors that facilitate children's adjustment to divorce, see Amato, 2000; Hetherington & Kelly,2002; and Kelly & Emery, 2003.)These considerations reveal why children's responses tomarital disruption are so variable. Consider two young childrenwith divorced parents. One child experiences a sharp declinein standard of living following parental separation. To staywithin budget, the mother and child move from their homeinto a smaller apartment in a less desirable part of town. Thechild's mother (the primary residential parent) began to experience symptoms of depression shortly before the breakup,and this affects her ability to interact with her child in a warmand supportive way. Moreover, she tends to ignore her childmuch of the time, only to explode in a harsh and punitivemanner when the child misbehaves. The child's father hasrelatively little contact with his child, and on those occasionswhen the father visits, he engages in loud, angry conflict withthe mother. Much of the fighting is about the child, whichmakes the child feel responsible for what is happening. Despite the mother's depression, she has formed a relationshipwith another man. Although the new boyfriend occasionallyspends the night with the mother, he does not interact muchwith the child. Given this constellation of factors, we wouldnot be surprised to learn that the child is exhibiting a varietyof serious symptoms of maladjustment.