The effect of parental divorce on young adults' romantic relationship dissolution: What makes a difference?

It was proposed that parental divorce does not have a uniform effect on young adults' romantic relationships and that differential outcomes depend on how young adults perceive their parents' divorce. Using a sample of 571 young adults, structural equation modeling suggested that, compared with those from intact families, young adults whose parents divorced held a more favorable attitude toward divorce. A positive attitude toward divorce was associated with lower commitment to their romantic relationship, which in turn affected its dissolution. More importantly, young adults' perception of parental divorce varied depending on interparental conflict and parents' marital quality before the divorce. The variation in the perception of interparental divorce was linked to relationship dissolution via attitude toward divorce and relationship commitment.     

The Unique Influences of Parental Divorce and Parental Conflict on Emerging Adults in Romantic Relationships

Parental divorce and parental conflict influence children across multiple domains, including risk of divorce in their own marriages. However, parental conflict and divorce, both separately and the interaction between the two, have not often been studied in premarital relationships, especially when considering possible mechanisms mediating these effects. In a large sample of emerging adults (N = 353), we show that when the most plausible mediating mechanisms are simultaneously considered, only relational commitment mediates the influence of parental conflict on outcomes. Parental conflict in the absence of divorce was associated with less commitment and, in turn, less relationship satisfaction and stability in emerging adult children’s romantic relationships, whereas parental conflict was unrelated to outcomes for children whose parents divorced. Implications for theory and preventive interventions are discussed.     

Long-term impact of parental divorce on optimism and trust: changes in general assumptions or narrow beliefs?

Two studies were conducted to examine the long-term impact of parental divorce on beliefs about the self and others. In Study 1, college-aged children of divorce and students from intact families did not differ on 8 basic assumptions or on measures of depression. Those whose parents are divorced, however, were less optimistic about the success of their own future marriages. Assumptions about the benevolence of people best predicted the marital optimism of the parental divorce group, but not of the intact family group. In Study 2, assumptions about the benevolence of people were explored in terms of trust beliefs. College-aged children of divorce and a matched sample from intact homes differed only on marriage-related beliefs, not on generalized trust. Children of divorced reported less trust of a future spouse and were less optimistic about marriage. Exploratory analyses found that continuous conflict in family of origin adversely affected all levels of trust.     

Attitudes toward marriage: Embeddedness and outcomes in personal relationships

This study examines marriage attitudes, attitude embeddedness, personal relationship outcomes, and parental marital status and conflict using 400 undergraduate students. In a conceptual replication of Prislin and Ouellette (1996) , more embedded marriage attitudes are more predictive of evaluations of general marriage issues and relationship scenarios than less embedded attitudes. Consistent with findings that marriage attitudes influence relationship quality ( Amato & Rogers, 1999 ), more embedded attitudes predict relationship conflict, commitment, desirability of alternatives, and expectations of relationship success. Recollections of high parental conflict are associated with greater relationship conflict, and individuals with divorced parents report more negative marriage attitudes. Future research on relationship attitudes, their strength, and consequences of parental divorce and conflict for offspring marriage attitudes is discussed.     

Parental divorce during adolescence and adjustment in early adulthood

The present study examined the impact of parental divorce during adolescence, interparental conflict, and intimacy with parents on young adult adjustment. One hundred sixty-seven undergraduate students (146 females, 21 males) completed a questionnaire regarding their psychosocial adjustment, their present relationships with their parents, the level of interparental conflict experienced during adolescence, and the marital status of their parents during adolescence. High levels of interparental conflict were found to be negatively associated with adjustment and current intimacy with parents. A poor relationship with both parents was negatively associated with several domains of psychosocial adjustment, while high intimacy with at least one parent was positively associated with adjustment. Intimacy with mother and with father were found to be the most important predictors of psychosocial adjustment. This investigation highlights the importance of maintaining a good parent-young adult relationship, particularly in divorced families. The findings indicate that future research should examine multiple family variables when assessing the impact of parental divorce or conflict on young adult adjustment.     

Marriages and psychological distress among adult offspring of divorce: a Norwegian study

The study compares the likelihood of getting married and of getting divorced among the adult offspring of divorced parents versus the adult offspring of parents who remain married (total N = 37,230). It also compares levels of psychological distress in the two groups (total N= 22,898). Data derive from The Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and population registries from Norway. Individuals with divorced parents tended to delay marriage or not marry at all. However, among those who married, there were more divorces among the offspring of divorced parents than among offspring of parents who were still married. Offspring of divorce tended to marry other offspring of divorce. These marriages were at especially high risk of dissolution. Parental divorce was particularly influential as a risk factor during the first years of marriage. Both parental divorce and the individuals’ own divorce were risk factors for psychological distress.     

The Social Construction of Love Through Intergenerational Processes

Love became an integral part of marriage in Western culture in the mid-1900s. Marriage began to change along with the inclusion of love, which is evidenced by changes in divorce rates. While marriages themselves change, love too may be influenced in a reciprocal process. This study was interested in identifying the association between parental relationship factors, including marital status and interparental conflict, and both the experience of and expectations for love. The sample was collected using online convenience sampling, and included (N = 207) heterosexually married participants. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to determine the unique contribution of the parent marital factors on love. Higher levels of interparental conflict were associated with lower levels of love and expectations for love, while having parents who were separated was associated with higher relationship expectations. These findings can support case conceptualizations for clinical work with couples and the use of Narrative and Transgenerational therapies.     

The differential effects of parental divorce and marital conflict on young adult romantic relationships

The differential effects of parental divorce and marital conflict on young adult children's romantic relationships were examined in this short‐term longitudinal study. Using a sample of 285 young adults, structural equation modeling supported the hypothesis that parental divorce and marital conflict were independently associated with young adult children's romantic relationships through different mechanisms: Parental divorce was associated with young adults' low level of relationship quality through a negative attitude toward marriage (positive attitude toward divorce) and lack of commitment to their own current relationships. However, marital conflict was associated with young adults' low level of relationship quality through their conflict behavior with their partner. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future research.     

The nature of interparental conflict of married and divorced parents: Implications for young adolescents

While research has demonstrated that interparental conflict is associated with poor child and adolescent functioning, studies have not yet addressed the characteristics of such conflict. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to report reliability and validity data of a questionnaire, the Interparental Conflict Questionnaire (ICQ), designed to assess the nature of interparental conflict more thoroughly than has been done previously, and (2) to compare the nature of such conflict in a married and divorced sample. Fifty-five married and 46 divorced parents, all of whom had a young adolescent, participated by completing two questionnaires: the O'Leary-Porter Scale and the ICQ. Validity (e.g., correlation with the O'Leary-Porter Scale) was generally acceptable for the ICQ, whereas test-retest reliability tended to be moderate to low. Additional findings indicated that heated arguments rarely occurred. Furthermore, in comparing married and divorced parents, the former discussed issues more and, to some extent, the latter argued more. However, one of the most striking aspects of the findings was the similarity of the married and divorced samples in terms of their conflict. Implications of the findings for understanding and explaining the role of interparental conflict in child and adolescent functioning are explored.This study was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

Is Adolescent Adjustment Following Parental Divorce a Function of Predivorce Adjustment?

This study examined whether adolescent adjustment problems which previously have been attributed to parental divorce exist prior to the divorce. Three groups (to-be-divorced, remain intact, and already divorced) were examined across four domains of adolescent functioning reported by multiple informants. The results indicated that adolescents from the to-be-divorced group functioned similarly to those who would remain in intact families but better than those in the already divorced group, suggesting that differences can be attributed to parental divorce and its accompanying disruption of family processes. Two of these processes, interparental conflict and parenting, were examined and failed to receive support.     

Role of maternal functioning and parenting skills in adolescent functioning following parental divorce

While divorce has been associated with impaired child functioning, the mechanisms within the divorce process leading to such an outcome have rarely been examined. The following hypothesis was examined: Divorce is associated with poor parental adjustment or disrupts parenting behavior, or both, which leads to poor adolescent functioning. Subjects were 121 and 93 young adolescents from intact and recently divorced families, respectively, and their mothers and teachers. Mothers completed measures assessing parental conflict and depression, observers coded parenting skills during a mother-adolescent interaction, and teachers completed measures assessing adolescent functioning. Although the magnitude of differences was not large, analyses of variance indicated that the divorced sample was functioning poorer than the married sample on all measures except interparental conflict. Path analysis suggested that parental functioning and parenting skills play a role in adolescent functioning following divorce.     

Parental divorce: long-term effects on mental health, family relations and adult sexual behavior

Specific long term effects of parental divorce were examined in a sample of 179 Icelanders, 20 to 30 years of age. The participants answered the Borromean Family Index, the Affect Balance Scale and a number of questions on sexual behavior and attitudes towards marriage and divorce. Results showed that compared to adults whose parents remained married, those of divorced parents reported more negative emotional experiences at the time of the study and had looser family ties. They also had greater number of short love affairs, had their first love affair at a younger age, had a greater number of sexual partners, and were younger at the time of their first sexual intercourse than adults whose parents remained married.     

Communication,conflict, and commitment: insights on the foundations of relationship success from a national survey

The key relationship dynamics of communication, conflict, and commitment were investigated using data from a randomly sampled, nationwide phone survey of adults in married, engaged, and cohabiting relationships. Findings on communication and conflict generally replicated those of studies using more indepth or objective measurement strategies. Negative interaction between partners was negatively associated with numerous measures of relationship quality and positively correlated with divorce potential (thinking or talking about divorce). Withdrawal during conflict by either or both partners, though quite common, was associated with more negativity and less positive connection in relationships. The most frequently reported issue that couples argue about in first marriages was money, and in re-marriages it was conflict about children. Overall, how couples argue was more related to divorce potential than was what they argue about, although couples who argue most about money tended to have higher levels of negative communication and conflict than other couples. Further, while the male divorce potential was more strongly linked to levels of negative interaction, the female was more strongly linked to lower positive connection in the relationship. Consistent with the commitment literature, higher reported commitment was associated with less alternative monitoring, less feeling trapped in the relationship, and greater relationship satisfaction.     

Marital adaptation,divorce, and parent–infant development: A prospective study

In this prospective study of divorce in the first 4 years of life we have shown that previous marital patterns anticipate the occurrence of divorce and influence the response to that event. Most of the divorces occurred in marriages that were consistently low in satisfaction or decreased in satisfaction from birth on. The family response to the event differed. The continuing effort at conflict resolution and the fact that differing levels of adjustment are reached at different time points are suggested by these reactions. For couples with an unsatisfactory marriage from late pregnancy through the first 2 years (consistently low), the immediate and sustained impact of divorce was to enhance the parent's responsiveness to the needs of their infant and the infant's expectation of being cared for. This was not true for couples decreasing from high to lower satisfaction in their adaptation. However, by child age 4, when all families had been divorced for 1 year, divorce versus no divorce was associated with a differential positive effect on teacher Q-sort ratings of the children for both marital patterns. Children who were from families where the parents were in conflict but did not divorce were more likely to externalize control, were more often uncontrolled, and were more anti- as opposed to prosocial. The implication of these findings are discussed. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Parental marital conflict and divorce,parent‐child relationships,social support,and relationship anxiety in young adulthood

Based on research documenting harmful long‐term consequences of parental conflict and divorce for offspring, relations between recollections of parental conflict, parental divorce, and social outcomes in young adulthood were examined. A total sample of 566 young adults from divorced and intact families completed measures of parental conflict, quality of parent–adult child relationships, anxiety in relationships with others, and perceptions of social support from others. As hypothesized, divorce and conflict had significant independent effects on outcomes in young adulthood. Effects of conflict were uniformly negative for quality of parent‐child relationships, perceived social support from others, and anxiety in personal relationships. Parental divorce was associated with lower quality father‐child relationships, yet divorce was associated with significant positive outcomes for quality of mother‐child relationships, social support, independence facilitated by both parents, and reduced anxiety in relationships. Importantly, these effects occurred regardless of participant sex, parental remarriage, and parental socioeconomic status.     

A short-term longitudinal examination of young adolescent functioning following divorce: The role of family factors

The purposes of this study were to examine young adolescent functioning over a 2-year period after divorce and to assess the role of two family factors, interpersonal conflict and the parent-adolescent relationship, in predicting such functioning. One hundred and twelve young adolescents, their mothers, and their social studies teachers served as participants. One-half of the adolescent were from recently divorced families and one-half were from married families. Mothers completed measures concerning interparental conflict and the parent-adolescent relationship, adolescents completed a measure of the relationship, and teachers completed measures assessing four areas of adolescent functioning. The results indicated that adolescents from divorced families were functioning less well than those from married families. There were no changes in adolescent functioning and the parent-adolescent relationship from the first to second year postdivorce. High levels of interparental conflict in divorced families were associated with more parent-adolescent relationship problems. In turn parent-adolescent relationships problems served as the best predictor of concurrent and subsequent difficulty in adolescent functioning.This study was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

Effects of the Dads for Life intervention on interparental conflict and coparenting in the two years after divorce

The ability of parents to forge harmonious coparenting relationships following divorce is an important predictor of their children's long-term well-being. However, there is no convincing evidence that this relationship can be modified through intervention. A preventive intervention that we developed, Dads for Life (DFL), which targeted noncustodial parents as participants, has previously been shown in a randomized field trial to favorably impact child well-being. We explore here whether it also has an impact on mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting and interparental conflict in the 2 years following divorce. Results of the latent growth curve models we evaluated showed that both mothers and fathers reported less conflict when the father participated in DFL as compared with controls. For the fathers, perceptions of coparenting did not change over time in either the DFL or control conditions. Alternatively, mothers' perceptions of support declined over time in the control group, whereas those whose ex-husbands participated in the DFL program reported significant positive growth change toward healthier coparenting. The positive findings for mothers' reports are particularly compelling because mothers were not the participants, and thus common alternative explanations are ruled out. The DFL intervention, then, offers courts a promising program to improve families' functioning after divorce.     

The Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model: The Shaping Role of Predivorce and Postdivorce Interparental Conflict

Divorce has been conceptualized as a process. Research has extensively demonstrated that it is pre/postdivorce family environment factors that primarily account for the variability in children’s adaptation over parental divorce process rather than the legal divorce per se. Amongst various factors, interparental conflict has been consistently identified as a prominent one. Surprisingly, a single source is still lacking that comprehensively synthesizes the extant findings. This review fills this gap by integrating the numerous findings across studies into a more coherent Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model to illustrate that pre/postdivorce interparental conflict plays crucial roles in shaping child adaptation trajectories across parental divorce process. This review also summarizes the mechanisms (e.g., child cognitive and emotional processes, coparenting, parent–child relations) via which pre/postdivorce interparental conflict determines these trajectories and the factors (e.g., child gender and age, child coping, grandparental support) that interact with pre/postdivorce interparental conflict to further complicate these trajectories. In addition, echoing the call of moving beyond the monolithic conceptualization of pre/postdivorce interparental conflict, we also review studies on the differential implications of different aspects (e.g., frequency versus intensity) and types (e.g., overt versus covert) of interparental conflict for child adjustment. Last, limitations of prior studies and avenues for future research are discussed. The proposed framework may serve as a common knowledge base for researchers to compare/interpret results, detect cutting edges of the fields, and design new studies. The specificity, complexity, nuance, and diversity inherent within our proposed model await to be more fully revealed.

     

Parental Alienation Among College Students

A sample of 50 college students responded to a questionnaire measuring perceptions of alienating behaviors on the part of their parents and their current relationship with each parent. Data revealed a higher degree of alienating behavior by divorced parents when compared to non-divorced parents. Mothers and fathers were rated about equally likely to engage in such behaviors. A higher incidence of alienated parent-child relationships in divorced homes approached, but did not reach, statistical significance. Students who were alienated from one parent report higher levels of alienating behaviors on the part of their parents. The results suggest that parental alienating behaviors, and the phenomenon of a child becoming alienated from a parent after divorce, are departures from the norm and worthy of attention and concern.     

Interparental conflict and adolescent problem behavior: an examination of mechanisms

The purpose of the present study was to examine several competing hypotheses which have been utilized to explain the negative relationship between interparental conflict and child/adolescent problems. These mechanisms of operation have included modelling, genetic transmission, disrupted parenting, the role of perceptual/appraisal processes of the conflict, and an inhibition hypothesis. One hundred and forty-two young adolescents and their mothers served as subjects. Eighty were from intact families and 62 from recently divorced families. Data were collected from the perspective of the adolescent, mother, behavioral observer, and social studies teacher. The results indicated that intact and divorced samples had to be considered separately as different pathways contributed to adolescent behavior problems in the two samples. For externalizing problems, a direct path between interparental conflict and problem behavior existed for the divorced sample whereas an indirect path through the adolescent's perceptions of the conflict existed for the intact sample. The different context in which the interparental conflict occurred for the two samples was offered as an explanation of this difference. For internalizing problems a significant direct path existed between conflict and problem behavior for both samples; however, the indirect paths through the adolescent's perceptions and through poor parenting skills contributed only for the divorced sample. The results suggest that various mechanisms appear to operate in influencing how interparental conflict influences behavior problems of young adolescents. Both the type of problem examined and the marital status of the parents appear important in determining the relative impact of the mechanisms. Implications for the behavior therapist are noted.