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 Further, the studies that are published are out of date (often 20 years old), thus leading to questions as to whether the effects are the same as described.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.     

Parental Divorce: A Protection from Later Delinquency for Maltreated Children

Family structure and maltreatment (abuse and neglect) have been identified as predictors of youth delinquency, although the relationship is not clear. This article furthers this research by studying a sample of maltreated children (n = 250) in one Midwest county, and through a multiple regression analysis of many risk factors, the study identified only one significant delinquency variable that made delinquency less likely—children who experience parental divorce. Some established risk factors were surprisingly found not to be predictive of later delinquency: minority race, one-parent families, youth substance abuse, recurrent maltreatment, and youth behind in academic grade level. Implications for the family studies and juvenile justice fields are set forth.     

The Relationship Between Mandatory Divorce Education and Level of Post-Divorce Parental Conflict

Abstract

This study assessed the association between conflict between divorced parents and their attendance or nonattendance at a divorce education program. A telephone interview was done with 160 individuals who participated in the education program and 59 individuals who did not. Both males and females in the nonattendance group had higher conflict scores than the attendance group. Attendance at the divorce education class was found to be associated with whether a subject will return to court or not. Those who attended were less likely to return to court related to the divorce.     

Children's Behavior and Mental Health Following Parental Divorce

The presence of behavioral disturbances and psychiatric symptoms (mental health); the reactions to the information about the divorce, and the self-image among 113 children were investigated 2-8 weeks after their parent's application for divorce. As a reference group for the mental health, 300 children from intact homes were used. No significant differences in behavioral disturbances/symptoms in total were found between the groups, between sexes, or between different age groups. However, 25% of the reported individual disturbances/symptoms had appeared or intensified at the time for the divorce, while 20% had disappeared or diminished. Strongest reactions to the information about the divorce were shown by children aged 7-13 years. The boys showed a more positive self-image compared to standardized norms. No significant diiference was found for the girls. In conclusion, the divorce per se did not seem to cause any shortterm mental health problems in the children.     

Parental Divorce and Child Mental Health Trajectories

A process‐oriented approach to parental divorce locates the experience within the social and developmental context of children's lives, providing greater insight into how parental divorce produces vulnerability in some children and resiliency in others. The current study involves prospectively tracking a nationally representative sample of Canadian children of ages 4–7 and living with two biological parents at initial interview in 1994 (N = 2,819), and comparing the mental health trajectories of children whose parents remain married with those whose parents divorce by 1998. Results from growth curve models confirm that, even before marital breakup, children whose parents later divorce exhibit higher levels of anxiety/depression and antisocial behavior than children whose parents remain married. There is a further increase in child anxiety/depression but not antisocial behavior associated with the event of parental divorce itself. Controlling for predivorce parental socioeconomic and psychosocial resources fully accounts for poorer child mental health at initial interview among children whose parents later divorce, but does not explain the divorce‐specific increase in anxiety/depression. Finally, a significant interaction between parental divorce and predivorce levels of family dysfunction suggests that child antisocial behavior decreases when marriages in highly dysfunctional families are dissolved.     

Parental Divorce and Interpersonal Trust in Adult Offspring

It has been proposed that recent increases in parental divorce have inhibited the development of trust among offspring. This proposition is tested by examining whether parental divorce is associated with offspring trust in parents, intimate partners, and others. Data come from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course Study. Results reveal that although parental divorce is negatively associated with trust, these effects largely disappear once the quality of the past parent‐teen relationship is taken into account. The one exception is trust in fathers where children of divorce remain at higher risk of mistrust. Trust in parents, intimates, and others is strongly linked to positive parent‐teen relationships regardless of parental divorce. Contemporary relationship experiences also influence trusting intimates and others.     

The Family Home as Attachment Object for Preschool Age Children After Divorce

This paper focuses on the results of clinical interviews which showed comparative differences between a divorced group of preschool age children living in the fmaily home and a cohort group moved from the family home. Analysis showed statistically significant differences in these categories: child's psychological security, perception of family relationships, and attitudes toward the family home. This work has implications for joint custody arrangements after divorced, as well as giving added information to parents and professional persons who are attempting to guide preschoolers with this acute family change. This study presents a challenge for society and health professionals to understand more of the developmental intricacies of mourning for different age children and of the role that object attachment plays for children in times of crisis. It offers information and a further challenge to understand more fully the general role of object attachment in the lives of preschoolers and in this process aids the development of preventive programs for children of divorce.     

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.     

Visitations and Transfers After Divorce

Recent research reveals that divorce negatively impacts children's welfare as a consequence of the reduction in monetary and time contributions of the non-custodial parent. After divorce, the variables that link the absent parent to the child are visitations, child support transfers, and direct expenditures the non-custodial parent makes on the child. In our framework parents constitute a bilateral exchange economy where the mother is endowed with control over visitations and the father has control over financial resources. We use data from National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (5th follow up) to estimate the parameters of the model. We then use the estimates to simulate the effects of alternative endowment levels (such as joint custody) on the proportion of time spent with the non-custodial parent and the ex post parental income distribution. The results indicate that an endowment of equal time for both parents, reducing time under the mother's control implies a reduction in the child support transfers from the father, and, therefore, a loss in the mother's consumption levels. However, a more equally shared time with the children also increases the father's direct expenditures on the child, with the effect of allowing the mother to spend less on child goods and partially compensate her consumption loss.     

Effects of Parental Divorce on God Image Among Young Adults at a Christian University

We used path analysis to investigate the impact of parental divorce on God image, mediated by father–child and mother–child attachments, among 178 college students at a Christian university. Findings revealed that parental divorce negatively impacts father–child attachment; however, father–child attachment does not impact God image. Instead, the quality of mother–child attachment, which does not seem to be influenced by parental divorce, best predicts the development of a healthy God image. Thus, preliminary findings elucidated that parental divorce undermines the quality of attachment between father and child but not mother and child, and mother–child attachment ultimately influences God image. Further research is needed to replicate and generalize these preliminary findings.     

Relation Between Parental Divorce and Adjustment in College Students

The role of parental divorce on the adjustment of emerging adults has been understudied and mostly limited to first-year college students. This study sought to examine the relation between parental divorce and adjustment in college students to identify differences in students from intact and divorced families while also examining gender and age differences. Results indicated no adjustment differences as a whole or by gender for intact and divorced families. However, students who were older when their parents divorced had higher levels of self-esteem than those whose parents divorced when they were younger. Implications of the study are discussed.     

Positive Consequences of Parental Divorce Among Israeli Young Adults

Abstract

Within the framework of cognitive theories that define crisis as a challenge to self-development, this study explored the positive long-term outcomes of coping with parental divorce in young adults. Data were collected from self-reports of 158 Israeli young adults whose parents divorced when they were adolescents. Together with painful feelings, almost half the participants reported “more positive than negative outcomes” and less than a quarter thought that the divorce had “more negative than positive outcomes.” The various positive outcomes were found to form three constructs reflecting maturity and growth: empowerment, empathy, and relationship-savvy. Coping styles used by the participants proved strongly connected to long-term outcomes. Reciprocal support was the main coping style used by the young adults and their significant others, and was connected to positive long-term outcomes. Based on multiple regression analyses, the study proposes a sequential model that charts a developmental sequence that enhances long-term positive outcomes. These and other results are discussed within the framework of posttraumatic growth perspective.     

Reasons for Divorce:

A 27-item checklist of reasons for divorce was administered to 437 men and women divorcing in the mid-1980's. Factor analysis revealed nine dimensions underlying the checklist responses. The most frequently cited factors were unmet emotional needs/growing apart, lifestyle differences or boredom with the marriage, and high conflict, demeaning relationships. Statistically significant sex, age and socio-economic differences were found. Correlates between the factors and individual psychological functioning, parental functioning, and the emotional ambiance of the divorce reflected considerable diversity among the divorcing population and have implications for legal and mental health practice.     

Young Women's Life Stories and Accounts of Parental Divorce

ABSTRACT

This article presents the results of an analysis of 7 young women's life story accounts of the experience of parental separation during adolescence. The young women took part in the Life Stories and Family Transitions Study conducted in New Zealand. The qualitative methodology used in this study allowed for an investigation of the ways that participants made sense of their experiences of parental separation within the life story. The narratives of parental separation were extracted from the interviews and analyzed for form and content. The analysis of form found that the stories progressed through a number of stages, titled “The Early Years,” “The Deteriorating Parental Relationship,” “The Climax,” and “The Aftermath.” A number of themes emerged from a process of interpretive thematic analysis. These themes were often associated with different stages of the story of separation, and were titled “Putting Together the Pieces,” “The Struggling Self,” and “Self-Determination and Competency.” As participants put together the stories of separation, they considered their parents' perspectives and integrated these with their own experiences of family events, developing their own personal theories. The stories of struggle, and of personal strength and self-determination, emerge from the analysis.     

Parental Depression in the Context of Divorce and the Impact on Children

The impact of divorce on children has been well documented over the past 30 years. Divorcing parents who are also experiencing clinical depression often have a compromised ability to parent well and to give the children needed support. Children are then impacted both by the divorce itself and the effects of parental depression. They are at higher risk of numerous problems including poorer physical health, deficits in academic performance not attributable to intellectual limitations, poor social functioning, conduct disorder and other disruptive behavior problems, phobias, and other anxiety disorders. Because children of depressed parents are at higher risk for depression themselves, they should be monitored for depressive symptoms. If there are concerns, the child should be assessed by a mental health professional.     

Narratives of Socialization: Perceptions of Parental Influence After Childhood Divorce

Despite substantial research on the consequences of parental divorce, no studies have investigated offspring discourse about parents’ influences. This study draws on a sample of university students and uses a grounded theory approach to identify four types of socialization narratives. These narratives include (a) fear of unintentional modeling, (b) absence of effective modeling, (c) determination to avoid parental mistakes, and (d) fear of self- or partner change. For the first three types, young adults link perceptions of relationship socialization to a specific parental trait or relationship pattern. The fourth type reflects generalized conclusions about human change over the life course.     

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.     

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.     

Parental Divorce and College Students: The Impact of Family Unpredictability and Perceptions of Divorce

The impact of parental divorce, perceptions of divorce, and family unpredictability on the locus of control, interpersonal trust, and assertiveness of college students (n = 115) was studied. Roughly 27% of participants came from divorced homes; they did not differ significantly from participants from nondivorced homes on locus of control, trust, or assertiveness. However, negative perceptions of parental divorce were associated with a more external locus of control. Aspects of maternal unpredictability related to lower trust yet higher assertiveness. Participants with divorced parents reported more unpredictable finances and somewhat more unpredictable meals growing up. Implications for adjusting to divorce are discussed.