Family resources as mediators in the relation between divorce and children's school engagement

Children are increasingly growing up in non-intact families. Because the family is a vital developmental part of growing-up, parental divorce can have far-reaching effects on children. This article investigates whether divorce interferes with children's engagement in school. According to the deprivation perspective, the effect of a parental divorce on children is mediated through the availability of family resources. Structural equation models are performed on the Leuven's Adolescent and Family Study. We conclude that the parental divorce effect on school engagement is mediated by the parent-child relationship, parental conflict, and financial problems at home.     

Impact of socioeconomic status on inter-racial mate selection and divorce

Four hypotheses about inter-racial marriage are tested, using matched data sets of marriage certificates and divorce records from the state of Hawaii across 14 years. The analysis focuses on the effect of race and socio-economic status, and findings suggest that couples tend to have equal status regardless of their racial origin, but high-status individuals have more choices in selecting a mate across racial groups. When marriages dissolve, inter-racial unions tend to last shorter than intra-racial unions, and high-status individuals are more likely to divorce. In conclusion, high status gives an individual more freedom in choosing a mate and in dissolving a marriage. Status is thus associated with power in making important decisions in family life.     

Marital History and Intergenerational Solidarity: The Impact of Divorce and Unmarried Cohabitation

Among the more recent challenges for the family are the increasing divorce rates and the decline in marriages. This article examines the possible consequences of these trends for intergenerational family relationships. How does divorce in the parent generation, and the shift from marriage to unmarried cohabitation among adult children, affect intergenerational solidarity? These questions are explored with data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation Study (NorLAG, n = 5,589, age 40–79). Scandinavian countries have high divorce and cohabitation rates and may therefore be of interest as comparative cases for countries where these events are less institutionalized. The findings suggest, however, that Norway accommodates to the general norm in the sense that divorce among parents is associated with lower solidarity with adult children on most solidarity dimensions. This is more true for fathers than for mothers. There is, on the other hand, no difference in solidarity between married and cohabitating children vis à vis the parent generation. The explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Post-Divorce Family Relationships as Mediating Factors in the Consequences of Divorce for Children

In this study, the psychological structure of the family after divorce is seen as mediating the impact of divorce upon children. Divorce affects primary bonds with parents, presents challenges to conceptions of social reality, and creates stress which interferes with normal development. The effects of divorce upon child behavior (peer relations, stress, aggression, work effectiveness at school) were examined through two contrasting research strategies: 1) a comparison of the behavior of children in divorced and intact families, and 2) analysis of the association between family processes and child outcomes in intact and divorced families. Family processes examined were: (a) the affective relationships between the father and mother, (b) the affective relationships between the child and each parent separately, and (c) for divorced families, the amount of contact between child and non-custodial parent. For divorced and intact groups combined, the relationships among family members appeared to be more potent influences on child behavior than was marital status. The negative effects of divorce were greatly mitigated when positive relationships with both parents were maintained. The child's relationship with the non-custodial parent (father) was as important as the continuing relationship with the mother. Implications for research and for public policy are discussed.     

Influence of Parenting Behavior on Psychosocial Adjustment in Early Adolescence: Mediated by Anger Regulation and Moderated by Gender

Emotion regulation (ER)—one of the most important developmental tasks in early adolescence—has been proposed to mediate the relation between parenting and adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of parental psychological control and autonomy support on adolescents’ problem and prosocial behavior (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), as well as to examine the mediating role of adolescents’ anger regulation and the moderating effect of gender. We collected three‐year longitudinal questionnaire data from N = 923 parents and their (at first assessment) 9‐ to 13‐year‐old children. Path‐analysis results mainly support the mediating role of adolescents’ adaptive and maladaptive anger regulation and suggest parental autonomy support to be beneficial for regulatory abilities and psychosocial adjustment, whereas the opposite was found for psychological control. Gender differences were found for parent report data, but not for adolescent report data. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Are girls more than boys subjected to disrupted conditions of upbringing?

Basing findings on data from the longitudinal programme Individual Development and Adaptation (IDA; n = 1383) it was found to be twice as common for girls to have been subjected to problematic upbringing conditions as for boys (here defined by experiencing major changes with regard to the child's caregivers; i.e. not just one parental divorce). This characterized 7.4% of the girls and 3.5% of the boys, a highly significant difference. A simple count of the number of parental transitions a child had been subjected to during upbringing also showed a sex difference in the same direction. As expected, girls with such disrupted upbringing showed adjustment problems during the school years, especially with regard to hyperactivity-related behaviours and conduct problems. The corresponding group of boys showed less pronounced adjustment problems. The generalizability of the results are discussed and tentative explanations presented for the sex differences that were found.     

International adoption and the formation of new family attachments

Clinical studies of children in international adoption reveal unique patterns of psychological adjustment to permanent family care. Pre‐adoption history often includes early object loss, medical and nutritional deprivation, multiple care‐giving disruptions, and the lack of primary care‐giving relationships. These factors and the age at the time of adoption are risks to positive emotional and cognitive development. Adoptive parents may be unprepared for the resulting developmental problems. Most significantly, parents and children are often at different points in readiness to establish an attachment relationship. The parents are eager to claim their child, but the child is unready to respond because of emotional fragility and lack of previous attachment experiences. Two clinical vignettes illustrate the importance of a developmental and medical framework in assessing the unique needs of these survivor children, as well as the necessity of an empathic therapeutic holding environment that can sustain the emerging family attachments under stress. The psychological impact of cross‐cultural adoption and traumatic early beginnings reverberates across time but with empathic parental care and treatment recovery can be significant.     

Mothering Mothers: An Exploration of the Perceptions of Adult Children of Divorce

It is clear that divorce shapes children's and adolescents lives in a variety of ways and that these are largely negative – they have worse physical and psychological health, they are less well‐off financially and have an increased likelihood of themselves divorcing. Aside from outcomes which are easily measurable, less is known about the ways in which divorce impacts on long‐term relationships ‐ particularly those between children and their parents. This exploratory paper looks at the relationships between divorced mothers and their adult children and finds that, like other studies, their relationships are marked by intimacy, but unlike other studies, this intimacy is neither enjoyed nor embraced. The participants report that their mothers were damaged by the separation, that their anger is ongoing many years afterwards. It is argued that these factors, amongst others, contribute to the ambivalent relationships some of the participants perceive they have with their mothers today and their uncertainty about caring for them in the future.     

For the child's sake: parents and social workers discuss conflict-filled parental relations after divorce

After a divorce, the former partners have to form new relationships between themselves as parents, and with their children. What does this reconstruction involve? What are the tasks facing the parents? What are the areas of conflict? This paper attempts to answer these questions. Eight initial sessions of parental mediation were chosen for the analysis. The analysis indicates that statements about the ways in which parents are entitled to their children, and vice versa, are common denominators for the transition from nuclear family parenting to post‐nuclear family parenting. In the sessions, parents dealt with this duty by fighting a battle for a place in the children’s lives. The battles were expressed in negotiations about time and place. The analysis revealed two different solutions to the problem of the parents’ entitlements. One was the creation of the homogeneous family, with one parent and the children living together in a close relationship, giving the other parent visiting rights. The other was to form a heterogeneous family, based on the idea that it is possible to build a childhood on differences and dissimilarities. Most of the conflicts originated from parents’ efforts to create homogeneous families.     

“单方索取”还是“相互需要”——代际同住中的需求组合与亲子选择

基于2018年中国老年社会追踪调查的数据,本文深入挖掘老年人与成年子女的同住需求组合类型,并分析其中子女的性别和排行两个维度的同住机制。研究发现,在中国,代际互惠的合作型同住占据首要地位,代际重心下移和浓厚的互惠色彩是当今代际同住的主流, 城乡之间代际互惠的逻辑存在差异。从代际同住机制看,特别是在农村,儿子依旧是同住选择偏好的对象,但女儿在代际同住中更有可能承担赡养的责任;农村地区排行靠后的子女在代际同住中更有可能得到父母的帮扶,也更有可能承担赡养的责任。     

Issues Related to the Use of Short-Term Groups for Adjustment to Divorce

Programs for divorce adjustment which utilize short-term groups provide a viable treatment intervention for meeting the needs of divorced clients. Through a comparison of such programs, this article identifies and discusses some of the issues and gaps in our present knowledge about the use of short-term groups for adjustment to divorce. Guidelines are provided for practitioners and agencies interested in developing divorce adjustment group programs or modifying existing ones.     

Systematic review of the physical home environment and the relationship to psychological well-being among community-dwelling older adults

ABSTRACT

Older adults with functional impairments are at risk of being excluded from participation in day-to-day life. This exclusion can have detrimental effects on psychological well-being. The physical home environment is a potential force for both enhancing and limiting participation for this population. This systematic review of literature examined relationships between the physical home environment, functional impairment, and psychological well-being among older adults who live in community settings. The Ecological Model of Aging served as the guiding framework for this review. Results suggest that knowledge of the relationships between these constructs is still in the early stages. While associational relationships are established, the nature of these relationships is clouded by the inconsistency of measurement across studies, as well as design challenges. Objective and subjective features of the physical home environment are linked to psychological well-being throughout the literature. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that personal competence serves as a moderator of those relationships.     

Parental status and psychological distress among older Thais

This study examines whether childless older Thais are more vulnerable to psychological distress relative to older adults with children. Drawing from the 2011 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand (n = 37,936), zero‐inflated negative binomial regression methods examine psychological distress of childless older adults relative to coresident and noncoresident parents. Analyses further explore how gender and marital status moderate this relationship. Results show that 40% of older Thais did not experience any symptoms of psychological distress in the past month. Compared to coresident parents, noncoresident parents showed a higher likelihood of experiencing psychological distress but being childless was associated with increased symptoms of psychological distress. While the relationship between parental status and psychological distress did not significantly differ by gender, marital status presents a significant moderating effect. Specifically, widowed childless older adults and widowed noncoresident parents experienced more symptoms of psychological distress relative to their married counterparts. In collectivistic societies, where the family unit is highly valued, and institutional support is weak, being childless and unmarried may negatively affect one's psychological well‐being in later life. Children and marriage are protective for older Thais’ psychological well‐being. The implications for social welfare policies are discussed.     

Family Disruption and Support in Later Life: A Comparative Study Between the United Kingdom and Italy

Global population aging has led to considerable disquiet about future support for frail older people; however, the determinants are poorly understood. Moreover, most industrialized societies have witnessed considerable changes in family behavior (e.g., rises in divorce and declining fertility). Such trends may have adversely affected the support systems of older people; nonetheless, only recently has research begun to address this issue. Employing data from the longitudinal British Household Panel Survey (1991–2003) and the 1998 Indagine Multiscopo sulle Famiglie "Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell'infanzia," we investigated the association between family disruptions due to divorce, separation, or death and three key dimensions of informal support: (i) frequency of contact with unrelated friends (among all respondents aged 65 years and over); (ii) co-residence with children (among unmarried mothers aged 65 years and over); and (iii) regular or frequent help received from children (e.g., household assistance including care) among parents aged 65 years and over. In addition, we conducted a comparative investigation of the relationship between family disruptions and the use of home care services (i.e., health visitor or district nurse; home help; meals-on-wheels) among parents aged 65 years and over. Our findings suggest that in a culture like the U.K.'s, where relations between kin are primarily influenced by individualistic values, support in later life appears to be primarily related to need, whereas in societies with a strong familistic culture (like Italy's), support is received irrespective of the older person's individual characteristics.     

Family relations, adjustment and well-being in a longitudinal study of children in care

The article reports on a longitudinal study of children placed in a children's home during the first two years of the 1980s. The 26 children placed when younger than 4 years of age and staying more than 4 weeks were followed up 3 and 9 months after leaving the children's home and 5, 10, 15 and 20 years later. The children's family relations, including early attachments and later parental relationships and the perception of who is their family, have been one of the predominant themes in the recurrent studies. None of them had lived with both parents after leaving the children's home and 20 of them had been in foster care for periods or permanently. At the time of the last study the children were young adults, aged 20–25. They are categorized in three rather distinct categories, one for those with a ‘good’ and one for those with a ‘moderate’ social adjustment and well‐being and one for those with a ‘bad’ social adjustment and well‐being insofar as involvement with drugs, criminal behaviour and legal sanctions are concerned. Their contacts and relationships with birth parents and foster parents and the perception of who is their family are analysed by use of attachment theory and developmental psychopathology.     

Intimate partner violence and preschool self-regulation: Examining the role of maternal emotion socialization in Black families

The ways that parents respond to children's negative emotions shape the development of self-regulation across early childhood. The objective of this study was to examine child self-regulation in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure in a sample of Black, economically marginalized mothers and their young children (aged 3–5 years, N = 99). The study investigates the conditional effects of emotion socialization practices that (1) encourage expression of and problem-solving around negative affect (“supportive”), and (2) encourage suppression of affective displays (“suppressive”) on children's self-regulation. We found a significant association between higher child self-regulation and supportive parental reactions in the context of psychological IPV. We also found a significant association between higher child self-regulation and suppressive parental reactions in the context of psychological IPV. Our findings are consistent with prior research suggesting Black parents who teach varied strategies for emotional expression may promote children's adaptation in high-stress family environments. Macrosystem factors such as systemic racism and discrimination as well as the threat of family violence may shape how parents approach emotion socialization and the teaching of affective self-expression and self-regulation.     

Parental Depressive Symptoms, Children's Representations of Family Relationships, and Child Adjustment

This study extends the investigation of family process models of parental dysphoria and child adjustment, by examining depressive symptoms in both fathers and mothers, and by examining children's representations of family relationships as possible explanatory mechanisms. Participants were 232 children (Time 1 mean age: 5.99; 105 boys, 127 girls) and their cohabiting parents, who participated for three consecutive years. Children's internal representations of multiple family relationships were assessed by means of a story stem completion task. Structural equation modeling indicated that children's inter‐parental and attachment representations are part of the process whereby parental depressive symptoms influence child externalizing symptoms. Maternal depressive symptoms also predicted changes in children's representations of marital and attachment relationships over time. The implications for family process models of relations between parental depressive symptoms in community samples and child development are discussed.     

Children's Perspectives on Their Relationships With Grandparents Following Parental Separation: A Longitudinal Study

Following parental separation, children's closeness to grandparents has been reported to be linked to their family situation and differences in adjustment. This relationship has not been investigated longitudinally. This study investigated children's relationships with grandparents over time in different family settings, and associations with intergenerational relationships. Data from 385 children, with longitudinal analyses on 140, were collected at two time points over a five‐year period. Associations between closeness of the child–grandparent relationship and adjustment were not found at the later time point. There was a mean drop in frequency of contact over time, but not in closeness. However, there was stability of individual differences in both frequency of contact and closeness; closeness to the maternal grandmother was particularly stable for children living with a single mother. Intergenerational links were found with the mother's own childhood experiences, particularly in single‐mother families. Following parental separation, the matrifocal bias in kinship patterns was accentuated.     

新一代农民工的返乡适应困境及其原因分析

在打工生活中完成基本社会化的新生代农民工长期接受消费主义的熏陶,生活模式与意义世界都已城市化,在经济波动中失业返乡之后,他们面临着谋生、交往及情感满足上的诸多障碍。农村人多地少的结构矛盾与打工经济的社会基础决定了村庄对于青年农民的角色期待就是进城打工以完成家庭的再生产,因而返乡的少数青年农民难以形成群体以生产出自身的意义与价值。这些因素使得新生代农民工在返乡后的心理调适需要更长的时间。     

区域文化对婚姻稳定性的影响:基于跨省流动人口的研究

本文利用2013—2015年我国跨省流动人口数据，从动态的视角考察了流入地文化和流出地文化对流动人口婚姻稳定性的影响。数据结果显示，高离婚率地区形成了一种强势的离婚文化，无论是从低离婚率地区流入到高离婚率地区，还是从高离婚率地区流入到低离婚率地区，曾在高离婚率地区生活过的跨省流动人口都会保持较高的离婚概率。离婚文化对个人行为的影响表现为继承效应和浸染效应：继承效应即人们迁移到一个新的文化环境中，原有的离婚文化会持续产生影响；浸染效应即人们迁移到一个新的区域，会受到新接触的离婚文化的影响。年轻人更容易受到新迁入地文化浸染效应的影响，而年龄较大的人更容易受到流出地文化继承效应的影响。在新环境中，男性更容易接受新的文化，而女性则更多地保留了原有文化特征。