It makes sense for them to be absolutely cut up and bitter, but I guess the question is whether they wouldn't have ended up cut up and bitter to the same degree

It makes sense for them to be absolutely cut up and bitter, but I guess the question is whether they wouldn't have ended up cut up and bitter to the same degree (and just a different direction) if the parents had stayed together while the same underlying issues which caused the divorce ultimately remained. Perhaps that would be true for some families and not for others.