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.     

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.     

Our Divorce Culture: A Durkheimian Perspective

Comparative studies of children from divorced and intact families consistently find that children of divorced marriages have more short- and long-term psychological and social issues than children from intact marriages. This has led to the need for an evaluation of our divorce culture. The purpose of this research is to analyze the general population's attitudes on divorce involving children by gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, and participation in religious activities to see if our opinion of divorce is corresponding to the reality of its effect on children. Research-based divorce education programs have been shown to produce positive results in social and psychological readjustment for both children and adults. The findings of this study allow research-based divorce education programs to identify where to focus their services for children and adults. In addition, these findings support the implementation of policy to mandate the development of research-based divorce education programs in each state.     

A KLEINIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE DIVORCE PROCESS: FROM THE PARANOID-SCHIZOID TO THE DEPRESSIVE POSITION

This paper looks at the divorce process from the perspective of Kleinan theory. It argues that during the early stages of divorce, most persons are in Klein’s paranoid-schizoid position, characterized by splitting and persecutory anxiety, and that they move on to the depressive position, characterized by sadness and longing, only later. The movement occurs as the separated or divorced individual becomes able to tolerate ambivalence, and thus to integrate both the loved and hated aspects of the former spouse and marriage. The paper illustrates the claim in three case studies and recommendations are made for treatment and research.Nehami Baum Ph.D. is a lecturer of the School of Social Work at Bar Ilan University. She is a social worker with experience in both public and private practice. Her special interests include non-death related loss, divorce, men in therapy, treatment termination, social work students' professional identity formation, and guilt.     

Parental Divorce and Children From Diverse Backgrounds: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Mental Health,Parent–Child Relationships,and Educational Experiences

This article utilizes multidisciplinary perspectives to examine the developmental outcomes of divorce for children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The authors present a literature review on the outcomes of divorce in terms of mental health, family relationships, and educational achievement for children by focusing on discipline-specific aspects of divorce in sociology, education, and family studies. Furthermore, this study builds on previous literature by examining parental divorce among children with special needs. A discussion of changes in family structure and child outcomes concludes this study with implications for policy and practice to support current population.     

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 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.     

The Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children

I use a divorce‐stress‐adjustment perspective to summarize and organize the empirical literature on the consequences of divorce for adults and children. My review draws on research in the 1990s to answer five questions: How do individuals from married and divorced families differ in well‐being? Are these differences due to divorce or to selection? Do these differences reflect a temporary crisis to which most people gradually adapt or stable life strains that persist more or less indefinitely? What factors mediate the effects of divorce on individual adjustment? And finally, what are the moderators (protective factors) that account for individual variability in adjustment to divorce? In general, the accumulated research suggests that marital dissolution has the potential to create considerable turmoil in people's lives. But people vary greatly in their reactions. Divorce benefits some individuals, leads others to experience temporary decrements in well‐being, and forces others on a downward trajectory from which they might never recover fully. Understanding the contingencies under which divorce leads to these diverse outcomes is a priority for future research.     

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.     

Do working mothers have healthy children?

This paper examines the effects of maternal employment on children's physical and mental health. The data used are from the Health Interview Survey 1981, Child Health Supplement. A health production model is developed on the basis of Becker's household production theory. The results reveal that a mother's employment is a significant factor affecting her child's physical health. Use of physician services, prices (i.e., CPI used as a proxy variable), sex of the child, receipt of Medicaid, the number of relocations, the mother's education, the mother's health status, breast-feeding practices, and the birth weight of the child are other important variables explaining the health status of children. The role of each of these factors varies according to the marital status of the mother.The authors wish to thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments resulting in a much improved product.She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1990. Her current research interests include health care of children and elderly, teen pregnancy and welfare use, children and divorce, and immigrant consumers.She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1983. Her research includes long-term health care for frail and ethnic elderly, health insurance purchases for the elderly, and health services utilization by the employed and working poor.     

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.     

The Effects of Divorce on Children: Mothers’ Perspectives in UAE

This study examined the effects of divorce on children in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A structured questionnaire was conducted with 1,742 divorced women and SPSS was used for quantitative data analysis. The aim of this quantitative analysis was to determine the social, psychological, health, and schooling effects of divorce on children (ages 1–18) in the UAE. The study confirmed that children are adversely affected. The study found that divorce was associated with a higher incidence of several impacts of divorce such as economic hardship, lack of concentration in school, sleeping disorders, and challenge and stubbornness. This is the first study in the UAE exploring the social, psychological, health, and schooling effects of divorce on children and to gain an understanding of the unknown aspects of the divorce phenomenon in the region.     

Post-Divorce Father Custody

Summary

This study examined the effects of different custodial arrangements following divorce and the impact they have on the adult romantic functioning of the children. It used 72 undergraduate participants coming from mother custody, father custody, or non-divorced backgrounds. Results indicated that custodial arrangement had largely no significant effect on the satisfaction felt in relationships, or in general attachment style. The gender of the participant was found to be a factor, with females exhibiting more security in romantic relationships and males showing a tendency to place relationships as secondary in their lives. While non-significant findings for the custody main effect seem discouraging at first glance, a discussion ensues speculating as to the utility of parental divorce as a useful sole independent variable in future studies. With divorce becoming commonplace in America today, it seems that studying parental styles may yield results more germane to current issues.     

An Educational Forgiveness Intervention for Young Adult Children of Divorce

This study tested the effectiveness of a forgiveness intervention for young adult children of divorce. Adults between the ages of 20 and 40 were recruited from counties in a state along the West Coast and from a state in the Midwest. Participants were randomly assigned to either a forgiveness intervention or an alternative treatment control group. Measures of psychological well-being and the quality of social relationships were administered at pretest, posttest, and 8-week follow-up. Results were mixed; between-group analysis revealed little difference between the two interventions, whereas within-group difference indicated the forgiveness group made significant and positive changes on measures of forgiveness, parent–child relationships, and anxiety. Implications for research and practice with young adults are discussed.     

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.     

Adult Children of Divorce: Awareness and Intervention

Parental midlife divorce impacts children who are adults at the time of the separation event. This article examines the family life cycle and stages as well as the transitions that occur when parents divorce at midlife. Specifically, the divorce impacts on the adult children are examined in relation to their unique life stage. Therapeutic practice implications and theories will also be explored in relation to assisting adult children of divorce reconcile the divorce experience of their parents.     

The Legacy of a Grandparent's Divorce: Consequences for Ties Between Grandparents and Grandchildren

This study assesses the implications of divorce in the grandparent generation for grandparent‐grandchild relationships. The sample of 538 grandparents comes from the Iowa Youth and Families Project. Results indicate that many aspects of grandparenting are negatively associated with ever experiencing a divorce. Some of the negative effects of divorce are explained by ever‐divorced grandparents' greater geographic distance from, and weaker bonds to, their adult children. Negative effects of divorce are stronger for grandfathers and paternal grandparents. Furthermore, a good grandparent‐parent relationship can compensate for the negative effects of a grandparent's divorce on relations with grandchildren. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the increasing percentage of individuals moving into the later years who have experienced a divorce.     

Doubled Homes — Doubled Social Ties? Children's Relationships in Post‐Divorce Shared Residence Arrangements

Although an increasing number of children live in shared residence arrangements after parental divorce, studies on their social relationships are rare. We address this research gap by relying on configurational approaches, social capital and social networks. Building on qualitative case studies (ego‐centred networks, interviews) with 14 children aged 10–14, results show that respondents constructed social ties based on two key categories: emotional closeness and constancy. Having two places of residence did not multiply close relations, and relations that entered the network after parental divorce (e.g. step kin) were particularly distant. Children's networks at both homes had limited interconnections.     

It Attacked My Change: An Exploratory Study with Young Adults on the Impact of Divorce and Their Adjustment Processes During Adolescence

Semistructured interviews were conducted with 2 female students, 21 and 24 years old. The participants experienced parental divorce during early adolescence (12 years old). This research examined the participants’ own views on the impact of parental divorce and their adjustment processes. The majority of participants’ narratives indicated that they had experienced negative effects of parental divorce. Results suggested that their adjustment was a long process in which mothers, peers, and psychologists had an important role in their coping process. Divorce and associated events were found to have a direct impact on participants’ development of identity, emotions, intimate relationships, father–child relationships, and views about forming their own families. The results were discussed in relation to the previous literature. Additionally, areas for psychotherapeutic emphasis are presented.