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Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated associations between exposure to parental divorce and marital discord while growing up and children's psychological distress in adulthood. Few studies, however, have attempted to explain these associations. Three pathways are evaluated through which family disruption and discord may affect offspring's well-being: children's socioeconomic attainment, children's marital and relationship stability, and the quality of children's relations with parents. Using 17-year longitudinal data from two generations, results show that divorce and marital discord predict lower levels of psychological well-being in adulthood. Parent-child relationships mediate most of the associations between parents' marital discord and divorce and children's subsequent psychological outcomes. Marital discord appears to erode children's emotional bonds with mothers, whereas both divorce and marital discord appear to erode children's emotional bonds with fathers. The results highlight the continuing importance of parent-child ties for children's well-being in early adulthood.
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Persons raised in divorced families tend to have less positive attitudes towards marriage, and more positive attitudes towards divorce. This negative attitude about marriage leads to decreased commitment to romantic relationships, which in turn is related to lower relationship quality.1) Divorce can also affect children's sexual behavior, thereby compromising their emotional and relational stability.
Young women from divorced families will feel a need for love and attention and yet fear abandonment; they will also be prone to both desire and anxiety.23) Women whose parents divorce are likely to be hampered or even overwhelmed by anxiety when it comes time to make decisions about marriage,24) though some “women with no ill effects from paternal divorce, may develop [the] security of friendship-based love quite well.”25) One study linked parental divorce to lower relationship commitment and confidence in women but not in men.26)
The children of divorced parents, stepfamilies, or single parents are less likely to expect to marry.31) Children who have experienced parental divorce are more likely to expect to divorce, compared with children of intact families.32) Children of divorce also have more negative attitudes towards marriage33) and a preference for smaller family sizes, although the negative attitudes are mitigated by their parents’ remarriage.34)
Divorce may influence well-being, with many individuals experiencing depression, loneliness and isolation, self-esteem difficulties, or other psychological distress. Parental divorce may also have negative effects on the psychosocial adjustment of children and adolescents.
Child custody refers to the care, protection, and supervision of a child. After divorce or separation, a court may grant custody to one or both parents following a child custody evaluation.
Adapted from the APA Dictionary of Psychology