Mid- and Late-Life Divorce and Parents’ Perceptions of Emerging Adult Children’s Emotional Reactions

A paucity of research exists pertaining to the experiences of emerging adult children in the context of parental divorce. This study uses Paul R. Amato’s divorce-stress-adjustment framework to organize a set of predictors that potentially influence parents’ perceptions of their emerging adult children’s emotional reactions to a divorce. Data come from a nationally representative AARP study, from which we analyzed a sample of 283 parents who experienced a divorce at age 40 years or older. Results indicate that parental gender, nature of contact with the ex-partner, divorce timing, time spent contemplating divorce, a history of parental divorce, and the reason for divorce influence parents’ perceptions of their emerging adult children’s reaction to the divorce. Implications, limitations, and future direction for research are discussed.     

Communication of the Decision to Divorce: A Retrospective Qualitative Study

Parents' ability to effectively communicate the decision to divorce can assist children in positively adjusting to this major life change. Using written responses to open-ended questions, this study investigated how 30 adult children of divorced parents recalled and evaluated the nature of their parents' communication of the divorce decision. A thematic analysis of the participants' responses identified salient themes that might assist divorcing parents in communicating the decision to their children. These themes included breaking the news together, avoiding negative talk about the other spouse, taking responsibility for the decision to divorce, leaving out details in the explanation, and inviting questions.     

Mechanisms behind Prolonged Effects of Parental Divorce: A Phenomenological Study

Much research has been aimed at evaluating the effect of divorce on children. The effects via the perceptions of adult children of divorce, however, are substantially underrepresented in this literature. Further, the studies that are published are out of date (often 20 years old), thus leading to questions as to whether the effects are the same as described. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to obtain a retrospective analysis directly from adults who experienced their parents’ divorce in childhood to understand what aspects of the divorce, either positive or negative, followed them into adulthood. Specifically, we were interested in learning the mechanisms contributing to such effects. Eight women and 1 man participated in semistructured interviews. Participants identified communication and support as key factors in their experience, both positively and negatively. Implications for clinical treatment are presented.     

Effects of a Mid- to Late-Life Parental Divorce on Adult Children

There is a dearth of research on whether and how a later-life parental divorce influences the lives of adult children. Through qualitative interviews with 40 adult children of divorce (ACD)—those whose parents divorced after they were 18 years of age—ACD were asked to discuss their experience of the parental divorce. There were commonalities experienced by the ACD. However, only half of the ACD were initially affected negatively by their parents’ divorce, whereas the other half did not have a tough time initially. Factors including being “put in the middle,” along with strained parent–child relationships, were found to have the potential to affect one’s experience.     

Consequences of Parental Divorce for Adult Children’s Support of Their Frail Parents

Using three waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, I examined the association of parental divorce and remarriage with the odds that biological, adult children give personal care and financial assistance to their frail parents. The analysis included 5,099 adult children in the mother sample and 4,029 children in the father sample. Results indicate that adult children of divorced parents are just as likely as adult children of widowed parents to give care and money to their mothers, but the former are less likely than the latter to care for their fathers. The findings suggest that divorced fathers are prone to be the population most in need of formal support in old age.     

Adult Sibling Relationships in the Context of a Mid- to Late-Life Parental Divorce

There has been much research on the influence of parental divorce on children, but less is known about whether and how a later-life parental divorce influences the lives of adult children. Through qualitative interviews with 40 adult children of divorce—those whose parents divorced after they were 18 years of age—adult sibling relationships were explored to determine if a mid- to late-life parental divorce affects the adult sibling relationship. The majority of participants reported that their sibling relationships were not negatively affected by the parental divorce; however, a minority of participants noted that their adult sibling relationships were negatively affected, especially if they “took sides” during the parental divorce.     

Financial responsibility for children following divorce and remarriage

In this article the phenomena of the declining financial status of children following the divorce of their parents are explored. Two cultural beliefs are proposed as particularly relevant for understanding why some parents do not provide financially for their children following divorce: the belief that the nuclear family form is the only one that is normal and natural, and the belief that an individual's rights are of supreme importance. The consequences of these beliefs for the financial support of children are discussed, and suggestions for addressing the situation are presented.Marilyn Coleman and Lawrence Ganong received their doctorates from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Their research interests include divorce and remarriage issues, belief systems about family life, and sex roles in couples and families. They may both be reached at 31 Stanley Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211.     

A Prospective Study of Behavioural Disturbance in Children Who Subsequently Experience Parental Divorce

This study examines changes in children's behaviour as a function of parental divorce. As part of a large scale general population study on the effects of marital disharmony on children, 139 children from the general population were followed up from a previous study. These children and their mothers were interviewed first between 1979 and 1982 (time 1) and then followed up between 1984 and 1986 (time 2). Between the time 1 interview and the time 2 interview, 16 children's parents had separated or divorced. This paper deals with the mothers' report of changes in the behaviour of these children between time 1 and time 2 as a function of their parents' divorce, and compares this with changes in children's behaviour whose parents live in disharmonious (N = 40) or harmonious homes (N = 50). Children's reports of their own behaviour at time 2 are also presented. The data show that children in disharmonious homes and children whose parents subsequently divorce show higher levels of disturbance than children in harmonious homes. Children whose parents subsequently divorce show their disturbance prior to the divorce. Children's coping strategies in response to divorce were also investigated and and an association was found between children's behavioural problems and (a) self-blame and (b) not having friends whose parents had divorced.     

Conflict or Divorce? Does Parental Conflict and/or Divorce Increase the Likelihood of Adult Children's Cohabiting and Marital Dissolution?

The short- and long-term effects of family structure on child well-being remains a hotly contested area among both researchers and policymakers. Although previous research documents that children of divorce are more prone to divorce themselves, much of this research has been plagued by multiple data and analytic problems. A second problematic issue relates to whether it is the divorce per se that leads to increased divorce or rather the conflict that may precede the divorce. In this article we examine whether children who experience parental conflict and/or divorce are more likely to experience a cohabiting breakup or divorce as adults compared with children from low conflict and/or intact families. Our examination improves on past research by using a three-wave longitudinal data set and by controlling for predivorce family characteristics, including the conflict between parents before divorce. We extend previous research on the effect of parental conflict and divorce on adult children's likelihood of divorce by also examining the likelihood of a cohabiting dissolution.     

Parental Divorce and Romantic Attachment in Young Adulthood: Important Role of Problematic Beliefs

In the current study 45 university students with either divorced or continuously married parents were surveyed about their romantic attachment, positive emotionality, depressive symptomology, self-esteem, and, when applicable, their retrospective beliefs about their parents’ marital dissolution. Findings revealed that parental divorce did not predict attachment insecurity, depression, or low self-esteem. In fact, adult children of divorced parents (ACDP) reported increased compassion, awe, enthusiasm, and perspective taking. Among ACDP, a composite factor representing increased fear of abandonment, peer rejection, and maternal blame was positively associated with adult attachment anxiety, even while controlling for parental conflict and divorce-related socioenvironmental disruption. Results are discussed in terms of their support of a complex understanding of the long-term effects of parental divorce, and in their inconsistency with a purely pathogenic model of parental divorce.     

Growing up in the Divorced Family

Stressful parent–child relationships in the post-divorce family together with the enduring effects of the troubled marriage and breakup lead to the acute anxieties about love and commitment that many children of divorce bring to relationships in their adult years. Findings from a 25-year study of 131 children call for a paradigmatic change in our theoretical understanding and in our interventions with these youngsters as children and as adults. Revised clinical and educational strategies with parents and children are proposed. Judith S. Wallerstein holds a Masters Degree in Social Work, a PhD in Psychology, and training in Child Psychoanalysis. Her research on the effects of divorce on children is known nationally and internationally. Her four best selling books have been translated into more than 10 languages. She is Founder of the Judith Wallerstein Center for the Family in Transition, a non-profit research, counseling, and educational center in Northern California. She is Senior Lecturer Emerita at the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare, where she taught clinical courses on children and families for 26 years.     

Parent and Child Similarities in Divorcing and Non-Divorcing Families

Abstract

It is frequently assumed that the model of their parents' marriage exerts a significant influence on the next generation, but little has been done to examine the part played by personality characteristics of parents and children. This longitudinal study examines the relative contribution of parental divorce, parents' marital (dyadic) satisfaction, conflict resolution style and selected personality qualities on children's personality qualities and self-image as adolescents and adults, and their dyadic satisfaction and conflict resolution style as adults. The samples were 67 adolescents from divorcing and intact families and their parents. Parents and children were interviewed when the children were aged 13-16, and the divorcing families were at the point of divorce. The children were followed up over 10 years until aged 23-26. At Year 1 the parents completed the anxiety, depression, sensitivity and submissiveness scales of the Neuroticism Scale Questionnaire (NSQ), the Spanier Dyadic Satisfaction Scale, and a conflict resolution scale, and made an appraisal of their children's socio-emotional maturity. Adolescents also completed the NSQ and a measure of self-image (Offer Self-Image Questionnaire: OSIQ). Ten years later the children again completed the NSQ and the OSIQ, and those who were currently in a dyadic relationship completed the Spanier and the conflict resolution scales. There were no differences on any measures between the children from divorced and intact homes. Husbands and wives were in reasonable agreement about their dyadic satisfaction and conflict resolution style, but no relationship was found between these and the corresponding self-reports of their adult children. Over the ten years of the study, mother and father depression predicted child depression, mothers' sensitivity predicted childrens' (and especially daughters') sensitivity, and fathers' lack of sensitivity predicted sons' submissiveness. The parents' appraisal of their adolescents' socio-emotional maturity at Year 1 predicted their children's self-image at Years 1 and 10, and their conflict resolution at Year 10; while self-image at Year 10 predicted contemporary Spanier scores. The findings are discussed in the light of current debates on the contribution of personality qualities to divorce and its sequelae for children.     

Feeling Caught Between Parents: Adult Children's Relations With Parents and Subjective Well‐Being

Research on divorce has found that adolescents’ feelings of being caught between parents are linked to internalizing problems and weak parent‐child relationships. The present study estimates the effects of marital discord, as well as divorce, on young adult offspring's feelings of being caught in the middle (N =632). Children with parents in high‐conflict marriages were more likely than other children to feel caught between parents. These feelings were associated with lower subjective well‐being and poorer quality parent‐child relationships. Offspring with divorced parents were no more likely than offspring with continuously married parents in low‐conflict relationships to report feeling caught. Feelings of being caught appeared to fade in the decade following parental divorce. These results suggest that, unlike children of divorce, children with parents in conflicted marriages (who do not divorce) may be unable to escape from their parents’ marital problems—even into adulthood.     

“It Is Not a Big Deal,I Can Do It,Too”: Influence of Parental Divorce on Professional Women's Marital Experience in Turkey

This article reports on a study of how parental divorce affects the marriage and divorce experiences of professional women in Turkey. Drawing on the retrospective accounts of eight professional women in relation to their own divorce and those of their parents, this study highlights the role of parental divorce and cultural context in adult children's attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding their own union formation. Based on this small qualitative sample, results demonstrate that parental divorce affected women's entire lives, with considerable impact on their commitment to marriage and view of divorce in general. They learn from their parents that marriages can be broken when they do not function properly. As a result, instead of being more patient or self- sacrificing, as is frequently advised to women in Turkish society, the women in this study readily tended toward divorce as a viable solution to marital problems.     

Parental Predivorce Relations and Offspring Postdivorce Well‐Being

This 2‐part study uses national longitudinal interview data from parents and their adult children to examine the way in which predivorce marital conflict influences the impact of divorce on children. In the 1st study, we find that the dissolution of low‐conflict marriages appears to have negative effects on offspring's lives, whereas the dissolution of high‐conflict marriages appears to have beneficial effects. The dissolution of low‐conflict marriages is associated with the quality of children's intimate relationships, social support from friends and relatives, and general psychological well‐being. The 2nd study considers how parents in low‐conflict marriages that end in divorce differ from other parents before divorce. We find that low‐conflict parents who divorce are less integrated into the community, have fewer impediments to divorce, have more favorable attitudes toward divorce, are more predisposed to engage in risky behavior, and are less likely to have experienced a parental divorce.     

The Effects of Divorce on Children: Married and Divorced Parents' Perspectives

Three hypotheses, derived from the social psychology literature, regarding the impact of marital status history on parents' attitudes toward the impact of divorce on children were examined. Married parents (n = 118) were expected to report more negative effects of divorce on children than divorced parents (n = 114); mothers and fathers whose own parents remained married were expected to rate the impact of divorce more negatively than mothers and fathers whose parents had divorced; and, divorced parents who initiated their own divorce were expected to report fewer negative effects of divorce on children than parents who did not initiate divorce. All three hypotheses were supported, extending the self- and vested-interest research to the divorce literature.     

The Impact of Marital Quality,Divorce, and Remarriage on the Relationships Between Parents and Their Children

SUMMARY

This paper examines data from a panel study on the long-term effects of parental marital quality and divorce on relationships between parents and adult children. Attention is focused on whether these effects vary by age and gender of child as well as the theoretical explanations linking mother-father and parent-child relations. The relational quality between adult children (18-31 years old) and both mothers and fathers is examined from the perspective of both children and parents. Among intact families, parental marital quality has long-term effects on father-child relations, regardless of gender, whereas short-term effects are characteristic of mother-child relations and only perceived by mothers. Further, although divorce without remarriage hurts sons' relationships with both fathers and mothers, it hurts father-daughter relations even more. Mother-daughter bonds appear to be improved by divorce, with declines in income explaining a large portion of the tendency for divorce to affect father-child relations.     

Gender and Age Differences in Child Adjustment to Parental Separation

Abstract

The present study examined gender and age differences in adjustment among children whose parents have separated. Measures designed specifically to assess family functioning during the divorce process (the Divorce Adjustment Inventory-Revised, and Child Divorce Adjustment Inventory), along with a measure of self-esteem and interviews with children, provide an in-depth exploration of the experience of families during the transitional period of separation. Results indicate that (1) parents of girls reported higher resolution of the separation, (2) high self-esteem for girls was mediated by residential parents' high socioeconomic status, (3) older children exhibited higher adjustment than younger children, and (4) father-headed families indicated higher adjustment before and after separation. Using a model of divorce as a process, results are discussed in relation to findings from studies of post-divorce and pre-separation families to provide a more complete picture of the divorce experience and child adjustment to that experience.     

Emotional Divorce: Child’s Well-Being

The effects of parental emotional divorce on the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and aggression in children, as measured by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS) and Aggression Questionnaire were studied. The measures were administered to a sample of 81 Iranian children ranging in age from 10 to 12 years old; 50 were in the legal divorce group and 31 were in the emotional divorce group. Children of emotionally divorced parents showed significantly higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems than counterparts from legally divorced parents. They reported more depression, anxiety, stress, and aggression. Additionally, moderate, severe, and extremely severe levels of emotional and behavioral problems were more common among emotional divorce children than legal divorce ones. In conclusion, the findings clearly showed that emotional divorce is more harmful than legal divorce. The differences between emotionally divorced and legally divorced families and the diversity of emotional and behavioral reactions among their children are discussed.     

Young Adults with Childhood Experience of Divorce: Disappointment and Contentment

The aim of this study was to use in-depth interviews to identify and describe experiences of parental divorce among adult children whose parents divorced 15 years earlier. Ten out of 76 interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Two categories of experiences were identified: disappointment and contentment. Two subcategories of disappointment were distinguished: disappointment toward mother, father, or both, and disappointment with relatives and other surrounding persons. Four subcategories of contentment were distinguished: contentment in the belief that the members of the original family received a good or even better life after the divorce, contentment with how the divorce was handled by the parents, contentment and inner strength as a part of the child's own personality, and contentment with receiving adequate help during and after the parental divorce.