Unhappily married parents who stay together 'for the children' may not be acting for the best, according to new research.

A poll of young people aged 14-22 who had been through a parental separation or divorce, found a large majority (82 per cent) said that even if they had been upset at the time they felt it was ultimately better that their parents split rather than staying together unhappily.

The research also found that children and young people want greater involvement in decision-making during the divorce process.

However half of young people (50 per cent) indicated that they did not have any say as to which parent they would live with or where they would live (49 per cent) following their parents’ separation or divorce.

While this needs to be carefully handled - 88 per cent of young people said it is important to make sure children do not feel like they have to choose between their parents - but nearly half (47 per cent) of children and young people polled said they had not understood what was happening during a parental separation or divorce and would have liked to know more. Nearly two thirds (62 per cent)) feld they had played no part in any of the decision making process about the separation.

However many common concerns about the impact of family break up on children, were not borne out by the findings 50 per cent of young people agreed that their parents had put their needs first during a separation or divorce and only two in ten (19 per cent) had felt - or been made to feel - that they were in some way to blame for the domestic breakdown.

Asked what advice they would give divorcing parents, one young person said, “Don’t stay together for a child’s sake, better to divorce than stay together for another few years and divorce on bad terms”; while another said children “will certainly be very upset at the time but will often realise, later on, that it was for the best.”

While most young people preserved good relations with their mother and wider family members following a break up, their relationship with their father worsened for nearly half of all children. Some 45 per cent said their relationship with their mother had improved, but only 19 per cent said their relationship with their father had improved - against 46 per cent who said it deteriorated.

Parenting expert and author Sue Atkins says: “Children want to feel involved and empowered with relevant information about their parents’ divorce and what it means for them. They also want to see their parents behaving responsibly, such as to not argue in front of them.

“As the long distance parent, dads must work hard to maintain their relationship with their child. They may feel angry that this task falls on their shoulders since they may not have initiated the divorce in the first place and it's easy to feel like a victim and spend their time and energy blaming their ex. But being a long distance parent doesn't mean that a dad has to automatically disappear from their child's life.”

The survey was carried out by ComRes on behalf of family law organisation Resolution and supported by Consensus Collaboration Scotland (CCS),

Shaun George is a national committee member of the CCS network,which promotes non confrontational ways of agreeing legal and practical arrangements for separation or divorce, and head of family law at Brodies LLP.

He said: "This new information shows that, despite the commonly held view that it’s better to stay together “for the sake of the kids”, most children would prefer that their parents divorce rather than remain in an unhappy relationship.

“Being exposed to conflict and uncertainty about the future is most damaging for children, not the fact of divorce itself."

A collaborative approach could help, he said. "This helps parents to maintain control over the divorce and ensure their children’s needs are, and remain, the central focus.”