Long-term effects of divorce on parent–child relationships.

Abstract

The initial idea for this thesis grew out of a workshop con ducted for divorced parents by the Group for Quality Parent-Child Relationships at Ohio State University. To those parents experiencing divorce and to the group itself, I express my gratitude. In addi tion, there are several individuals to whom I would like to give my deepest appreciation. Dr. Andrew Schwebel and Dr. John Moreland were of invaluable assistance throughout the project and without their continual help the study would not have been completed. The statis tical analysis phase of the study was completed in large part through the efforts of Dwayne Ball, whose great patience, expertise, and support were of great value. The study was greatly facilitated by my roommate, close friend, and collaborator Jim Vess, who com pleted his thesis along with my own, and whose daily support and presence were constantly reassuring. While the contributions of the previously mentioned individuals have been during the last two years, my parents, Burril and Marilynn, have provided me with the opportunity and the support needed to benefit from my educational experiences throughout my life. To them and to my brothers, Paul and David, and my sister Anita, I cannot express my appreciation. Finally, and by no means least, my love for my fiancee Eve and her unending caring and support have given each of us the drive to achieve whatever we have been able to, including this thesis. iii

The impact of parental divorce on the attainment of the developmental tasks of young adulthood

“…Previous researchers have demonstrated the importance of assessing for variables such as the quality of family relationships (Farber et al, 1981;Fine et al, 1986;Kurdek & Sinclair, 1988) and the frequency of contact with non-custodial parents (Fine et al, 1983;Lopez et al, 1988). Future investigators should not only assess the impact of family conflict on post-divorce adjustment, but other variables such as family cohesiveness and allowance for family members to express their feelings.…”

“…Consider two of the most critical tasks of young adulthood: (a) finding "emotional middle ground" by differentiating from one's family of origin while simultaneously remaining connected (i.e., avoiding emotional "cut-offs ~) and (b) forming intimate and differentiated peer relationships (Bowen, 1978;Carter & McGoldrick, 1989;Williamson, 1981). In regard to the first goal, researchers often measure young adults' ability to separate from parents without simultaneously assessing the degree of emotional connectedness (e.g., Aquilino, 1990;Grossman, Shea, & Adams, 1980;Moore & Hotch, 1982; and vice versa (e.g., Boyd, Nunn, & Parish, 1983;Fine, Moreland, & Schwebel, 1983;Fine, Worley, & Schwebel, 1986;Kennedy, 1985;Parish, 1981;Parish & Wigle, 1985;Rozendal, 1983;Weiss, 1988;White, 1992). Similarly, in regard to the development of intimate peer relationships, investigators frequently only assess the amount rather than the quality of the peer relationships (e.g., Booth et al, 1984;Hepworth, Ryder, & Dreyer, 1984;Hogan & Kitagawa, 1985;Kalter, 1977Kalter, , 1984Hetherington & Parke, 1979;McLanahan & Bumpass, 1988).…”

Parent-Child Relationship and Smoking Among College Students: Role of Parents in Females’ and Males’ Smoking Behavior

“…PCRS is scored in a 7-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (so much) by reverse-scoring negatively worded items (9,13,14), and then summing individual item scores and dividing by the number of items. PCRS has shown excellent validity and internal consistency, with good α values for the father (89% to 94%, with overall α of 96%) and mother (61% to 94%, with the overall α of 94%) subscales (Fine, Moreland, & Schwebel, 1983). Research has shown PCRS's excellent validity and reliability (92% to 93%) in Iranian samples (Parhizgar, 2002;Dadash, 2004).…”

Parental divorce and premarital couple communication.

“…This exposes a lot of adults and children to divorce. Between 40% and 50% of children born in the United States in the 1980s will experience parental divorce before they reach the age of 18 (Fine, Moreland, & Schwebel, 1983), and 35% of children will experience the divorce and remarriage of their custodial parent (Glick, 1989). In turn, second marriages have substantially higher rates of divorce than first marriages (Booth & Edwards, 1992;Martin & Bumpass, 1989), and consequently some children are exposed to repeated breakdowns in their parents' relationships.…”