Adjustment to Separation and Divorce

This paper reports the findings of a study designed to provide an in-depth analysis of the postseparation period. Data from 50 open-ended, unstructured case study interviews were used to identify the critical areas of postseparation and postdivorce adjustment. Approximately 1,000 pages of verbatim field notes were collected. These data revealed that there are two separate but overlapping adjustments: (a) to the dissolution of the marriage and (b) to setting up a new life-style. Sources of significant adjustment problems reported by various segments of the sample included the legal system, lawyers, property settlements, children, the respondent's social network, emotional-psychological adjustment, economics, and heterosexual (dating) relationships. Four hypotheses were also examined. These hypotheses examined (a) the effects of lingering attachment to the former spouse, (b) the degree of social interaction outside the,home, (c) the role of dating relationships, and (d) the relative effects of sudden and unexpected separations.     

Marital Separation/Divorce

A review of the literature was conducted to determine the current knowledge base regarding the impact of marital separation or divorce on the individual. The review focused on the literature in psychiatry, psychology, and social work, but also included related disciplines, such as family law. The findings indicate a focusing of research questions since the early 1970's, particularly in defining the process of divorce and differential impact of the various stages across gender. However, some gaps still exist within the literature, pointing toward additional research questions, such as in the area of treatment, and the impact of initiator status.     

Marital Lifestyles and Adjustment to Separation

Two hundred and ninety-eight men and women in the process of divorce were interviewed concerning their lifestyle prior to maeta1 separation and their current state of happiness. Sex differences in social independence, division of household chores, and reliance on spouse were congruent with traditional sex role norms. When lifestyle measures were correlated with present happiness, less traditional behaviors were generally associated with greater happiness, as was the maintenance of separate interests, hobbies, and social activities.     

Factors Associated with Adjustment to Marital Separation

Abstract

The dramatic increase in divorce in the United States over the past two decades has resulted in a need for closer examination of the factors associated with the adjustment to marital separation. This article reports a multivariate examination of health and social factors associated with post-separation adjustment In depth interviews were completed with 205 individuals, separated no longer than 26 months, about their marriage, its failure, and its aftermath. The study examines the role of social contact, health, economic stability, and dating behavior in the adjustment to marital separation. Multiple regression analysis is used to examine the independent and collective influences on adjustment, measured both by the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale and the Cantril Ladder technique. The analysis consistently demonstrated that economic stability, health status, and frequency of dating are significant predictors of post-separation adjustment. The implications of these findings are considered with special attention to some variations between sub-groups of the sample.     

Sex Differences in Initiation of and Adjustment to Divorce

Men and women for this study were randomly chosen from courthouse divorce files. After initial contact by mail and by phone, those who agreed to participate were mailed questionnaires developed to assess adjustment to divorce and to obtain information about the nature of the divorce. Forty-four percent of those who received questionnaires completed and returned the assessment; the total sample consisted of 133 subjects. A sex difference in decision to separate was found, with both men and women reporting that the decision had been the woman's. Women showed better adjustment than men on a divorce adjustment scale. In addition, women reported significantly fewer suicidal feelings than males. However, males had significantly lower factor scores on the Profile of Mood States for tension and on the Semantic Differential for stability. Other Profile of Mood States and Semantic Differential measures did not reveal significant sex differences.     

The Marital Termination Period of the Divorce Adjustment Process

This paper deals with the marital dynamics characteristic of the period immediately prior to a decision to divorce. The period is termed the Period of Termination and occurs while a couple is still living together. It is one of the two peak stress periods of the divorce adjustment process. The concept of a marital Point of No-Return (N/R) is introduced. Guidelines for working with the concept are presented. Two marital termination strategies and the implications of these concepts for clinical practice are examined. A demarcation point for marital therapy vs. divorce therapy is also suggested. Finally, observations regarding the nature of the emotional scarring that may result from this period are discussed.     

Heterosexually Married Men Who Have Sex With Men: Marital Separation and Psychological Adjustment

In order to provide an empirical base for generation of theory and the design of intervention and enrichment programs, relationships between youths' perceptions of parental values/behavior and their own sexual attitudes were tested, as well as the interactive effects of a formal course in sex education. Perceptions of parental sexual liberality, concern about nudity in the home during childhood, caring for each other, and sex‐role stereotyping were correlated to adolescents' sexual liberalism, as measured by the Athanasiou and Shaver scale (1969, 1970), and other categorical items which elicited views of homosexuality, access to abortion and sex manuals, sex‐love linkage, premarital sexual relationships, and persons from whom advice about sexual problems would be sought. Sixty males and 75 females, ranging in age from 11 to 19 years, participated. Parental liberality correlated with offspring liberalism and other attitudes. Interactive effects of sex education were found: Sexually educated youths who perceived their parents as moderate reported greater sexual liberalism than those without sex education. No difference related to sex education was found among youths who perceived their parents as conservative or liberal. Lack of parental concern about nudity related to greater adolescent liberalism. Few differences attributable to gender and age were found. The discussion cautions against causal interpretation of correlations and presents avenues for future research.     

Divorce and the Divine: The Role of Spirituality in Adjustment to Divorce

This study examined the role of three spiritual responses to divorce for psychological adjustment: appraising the event as a sacred loss/desecration, engaging in adaptive spiritual coping, and experiencing spiritual struggles. A sample of 100 adults (55% female) was recruited through public divorce records. Most appraised their divorce as a sacred loss/desecration (74%), experienced spiritual struggles (78%), and engaged in adaptive spiritual coping (88%). Appraisals of sacred loss/desecration and spiritual struggles were tied to higher levels of depression. Adaptive spiritual coping was tied to greater posttraumatic growth. Spiritual coping and struggles each contributed uniquely to adjustment beyond parallel forms of nonspiritual coping and struggles and mediated links between viewing the divorce as a sacred loss/desecration and depression.     

The Impact of Marital Separation/Divorce on Children

This is a report of the findings from one of several dimensions of a study of the impact of divorce on children. Other dimensions will be reported in subsequent articles. This portion of the study examined the association between the child's psychosocial adjustment and the amount of time and activity lost with each parent after the parental separation. The sample consisted of 30 families (51 children) all of whom had experienced a parental separation within 12 months prior to the research interview. Child adjustment was measured through the use of the Louisville Behavior Checklist. Time and activity lost with each parent were identified by an instrument developed by the author. Findings indicate that there is a wide range of change for children in time and activity with parents after a parental separation. It can range from time lost to time gained with one or both parents. Findings indicate a statistically significant association between time lost in the presence of father and current adjustment. The more time lost, the higher the maladjustment score. Findings were stronger for children aged 7 to 13 than for those 3 to 6. No significant association between time lost with mother and child adjustment was found. The study supports the importance of father-presence for children within the 1st year after a parental separation.     

Correlates of Women's Adjustment During the Separation and Divorce Process

This study sought to clarify those factors related to successful adjustment at different times during the divorce process. A longitudinal research design was used to study three diverse sam- ples of women in the process of adaptation. Certain variables previ- ously found to predict adjustment, such as the woman's a e and the f presence of children, were not significantly associated wit the mul- tiple indicators of adjustment used in this study. Sex role attitudes, social isolation, and inter-spouse acrimony emerged as stronger cor- relates of adjustment. The predictive power of several variables changed over time, emphasizing the importance of controlling the length of separation for a given sample.     

Sex Role Orientation and Structural Correlates*

This paper examines female and male sex role orientation, with emphasis on the structural correlates of sex role attitudes. Based on a random sample of college students, the data on roles of both sexes along four dimensions of sex role orientation reveal that women more than men are nontraditional in sex role ideologies. Structural characteristics such as socio-economic status of parents, demographic and family composition predict more of the variation in the sex role orientation of men than of women. For women, the processes through which attitudes emerge may be related to exposure to nontraditional standards and values rather than related to the effect of their structural characteristics while men are influenced by structural characteristics. These data suggest a role sharing model for women, where opportunities and responsibilities between the sexes are shared, but for men, the data support a degree of sex role differentiation.     

Marital Separation

In an effort to evaluate a procedure designed to learn more about clinical and demographic aspects of marital separation, a telephone survey of 2,001 households in Boulder, Colorado, was conducted. The procedure reached a representative sample of the population and provided valuable information regarding the current prevalence of marital separation, as well as its incidence, duration, and modes of resolution. The likelihood of any married couple experiencing a separation was found to be nearly 5 percent in one year. The risk of separation appears to be far higher among the young than the old. Most terminated separations, after lasting about one year, end in divorce. Implications for marriage and divorce counseling, for community intervention programs, and for additional research are indicated.     

Family Divorce and Separation

No abstract available for this article.     

Social Network Changes and the Adjustment to Divorce

The objectives of this pilot study were to explore the social network relationships of divorced persons prior to divorce and up to one year following divorce, and to delineate the network changes which take place and the ways in which these changes affect adjustment to divorce. Subjects were administered the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the General Well-Being Schedule and completed a social network questionnaire. In general the findings suggested that changes in the social networks of individuals from pre to post divorce tend to decrease the quaLily of the person's adjustment to this life crisis. Suggestions were provided for future research in this area and for clinical interventions designed to deal with divorced persons.     

Coming to Terms With Parental Divorce: Associations With Marital Outcomes and the Role of Gender and Religiosity

In this article we examine the current marriage relationship outcomes for children of divorce compared to children from intact families. The sample is 997 matched married couples. Those from families with married parents were more likely to come to terms with issues in their family of origin, and had higher religiosity, less negative communication, and more positive relationship satisfaction than those with divorced parents. Religiosity was effective in helping those with married parents come to terms with family of origin. The variable coming to terms with family of origin predicted positive marital outcomes to some extent for all couples, although for couples where both partners' parents had divorced coming to terms predicted fewer positive outcomes. Coming to terms for females was associated more profoundly with decreases in negative communication for both males and the females, and also predicted satisfaction and stability in more cases than did coming to terms for males.     

Social Support During Adjustment to Later-Life Divorce

This study investigated the adult child's role as a provider of social support to divorced parents. Each of the 230 randomly-selected individuals participating in the survey had been divorced after 19 or more years of marriage and had at least one child over age 18. Participants ranged in age from 36 to 72 and had been married an average of 28 years prior to divorce. Respondents were asked to indicate types and amounts of support provided by children in two major areas: instrumental aid (e.g., advice, services, financial assistance) and socioemotional aid. The pattern of support varied according to the sex of the parent and the sex of the child. Mothers received significantly more support than fathers in all four categories: advice, services, financial assistance and socioemotional aid. Sons and daughters did not differ significantly with regard to frequency of providing advice or financial aid. However, sons provided significantly more services, and daughters provided significantly more socioemotional aid. Circumstances connected with filial provision of support-opportunity, parental expectation of aid, parental financial need, parental health and morale, competing role responsibilities of the child, and quality of parent-child relationship-were analyzed. Multiple regression was used to specify the relationship between total support received and seven independent variables: frequency of contact, sex of respondent, emotional closeness, filial expectation, frequency of telephoning, sidetaking behavior, and financial strain. These variables explained 52% of the variance in total support.     

Divorce Stress and Adjustment Model

One hundred and seven recently divorced men and . women completed a mailed questionnaire eliciting locus of control, difficulties, decision time, and divorce stress and adjustment. Public records were used to obtain demographic data. The path analysis derived final model suggests: (I) Locus of control is related to pre- decision stress, peak stress point, stress intensity, stress duration, and postdivorce stress and adjustment, but unrelated to decision time. (2) The relationship between locus of control and heavy stress chan es over time from an inverse to a direct relationship. (3) Com- pare f to women, men report less predecision stress, shorter predeci- sion periods, lower postdivorce adjustment, and more external Rot- ter Locus of Control scores. (4) Marriage length is directly related to decision time and stress duration, but inversely related to predeci- sion stress, point of peak stress, and postdivorce stress. (5) Childless couples report fewer difficulties, less postdecision stress, and shorter predecision intervals.     

The Role of Forgiveness in Divorce Adjustment and the Impact of Affect

The role of forgiveness and affect was investigated in relation to divorce adjustment. Ninety-one participants separated from their ex-spouse less than 30 months completed a background questionnaire, the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI), the Self Forgiveness Scale (SFS), the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Inventory (CES–D), the Spielberger State–Trait Anger Inventory (STAXI–2), and the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS). There were significant relationships between depression and the capacity to forgive and between being in an angry feeling state and harboring a lack of forgiveness toward the ex-spouse. The relationship that emerged as the most powerful was that between trait anger and lack of self-forgiveness. Forgiveness intervention that occurs early in the divorce adjustment process is implicated, particularly in relation to the self.     

Parents' Experience and Adjustment to Their Adult Children's Divorce

Fifty-two parents, ranging from 54 to 87 years of age, participated in a qualitative assessment of their experience of their adult children's marital dissolution The Double ABCX Model provides a framework for identifying the hardships encountered, the resources called upon to help, the meaning attributed to the divorce, and the level of adaptation possible. Practical implications for professionals working wilh families in later life are provided.