A number of researchers have attempted to discover whether moving has a negative effect on children’s academic, social, or emotional development. In many cases, residential relocation has indeed been linked to adjustment and academic problems, at least in the short run. Residential relocation usually involves school changes and curriculum disruption as well.
However, it is important to distinguish between children’s moves that are supported and planned (presumably leading to positive outcomes for the family) and those moves that are a result of negative economic or social conditions. The emotional effect of moving on children of a high level executive is obviously going to be different (and likely more positive) than the effect of moving on the children of a seasonal worker or unskilled laborer who must travel from job to job. Frequently, residential mobility may be a result of life problems rather than a cause of them. Divorce, death, parental incarceration, or unemployment all often...
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Suggested Reading
Heinlein, L. M., & Shinn, M. (2000). School mobility and student achievement in an urban setting. Psychology in the Schools, 37, 349–357.
Rumberger, R. W., & Larson, K. A. (1998). Student mobility and the increased risk of high school dropout. American Journal of Education, 107, 1–35.
Sandoval, J. (2001). Moving. In J. Sandoval (Ed.), Handbook of Crisis counseling, intervention and prevention in the schools, Chapter 11 (2nd ed.) (pp. 231–248). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Suggested Resources
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/Ca-0046/default.asp: This website offers advice to parents to help their children cope with moving.
National Network for Child Care (NNCC)—http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/movenew.html: This section of NNCC website is entitled: “Understanding Children: Moving to a new home.”
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Sandoval, J. (2010). Student Mobility. In: Clauss-Ehlers, C.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71799-9_405
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