Preservice Teachers’ Understanding of Children of Divorced Families and Relations to Teacher Efficacy

Teachers are well-positioned to play a critical role in fostering resiliency in children of divorce and to assist in reducing the risk for adjustment problems. The purpose of this study was to determine whether preservice early childhood teachers have the awareness of the stress responses and effects of parental divorce on their students. Early childhood preservice teachers responded to questionnaires that asked about awareness of the effects of a parental divorce on a child and awareness of the stress responses exhibited by a child due to a parental divorce. Results indicate that preservice teachers had moderate awareness about children’s normative stress responses and those who had a high sense of efficacy had a moderate positive correlation with their overall awareness of atypical behaviors in children of divorce. Preservice teachers with personal experience of parental divorce had a lower level of awareness of the stress responses and effects of divorce than those who had not experienced a parental divorce. Participants closer to completing the teacher preparation program had significantly higher awareness of the effects on and stress responses that children can exhibit due to a parental divorce. Discussion and implications for pre-service teachers are presented.