The Effects of Unconventional Guardians on Adolescent Behavior We live in a society where the unconventional or non-traditional family has more or less become the social norm. More and more families are split or made up of mixed families, single parents, gay and lesbian couples, etc., and this can have an important effect on the behavior of today's young people. A predominant factor in all this is the incidence of divorce. Two people get married too early and decide to have children, then the marriage doesn't work out for various reasons, and the children are forced to take on a new lifestyle, which can be extremely shocking and potentially traumatizing for them. This can lead to a variety of different behavioral problems in adolescents. For example, in situations where an adolescent feels that the parent is not emotionally available to him, he is much more likely to express aggressive or delinquent behavior because he feels he must internalize his problems. (Van der Graaff, Branje, De Wied and Meeus, 2012). The more involved parents are in their personal lives (for example, in divorce), the less likely they are to be emotionally available to their children. On the contrary, many people argue that gay and lesbian couples are unfit to raise children; however, studies show that such children are equally advantaged academically, socially, and emotionally compared to their peers (Amato, 2012). It's important to address both sides of the spectrum because many adults don't recognize the long-term effects of a marriage. Some people argue that gay marriage is harmful to children's health, yet a major factor in adolescent delinquency lies in divorce, which predominantly... middle of paper... parent, and therefore often power. it cannot be shared equally between the two adults because the children do not respect the authority of the other spouse. Before a stepparent is even found, it is very common for one parent to reach an almost adolescent state of self-centeredness in finding another partner for themselves (Amato & Cheadle, 2008). Their attention diverts from child-rearing and drives a wedge between them and the child, especially when the child is in a crucial state of development, between the ages of three and six. This wedge is favored in remarriage and is the cause of antisocial behavior, anxiety, substance abuse and many latent psychological problems to be addressed later (Amato & Cheadle, 2008). Specific phobias, major depression and alcohol abuse are among the three main psychological disorders linked to divorced families (Breslau et al., 2011).