No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Rethinking Relationships between Divorced Mothers and Their Children: Capitalizing on Family Strengths
Abstract
Based on interview data from 58 young adult children who experienced parental divorce, this study examines qualitative aspects of mother-child relationships and strengths in these relationships. Boundary issues and roles shifts between children and their divorced mothers are particularly emphasized. A content analysis revealed that often times, mothers were viewed as friends, especially by daughters, and their withdrawal from caregiving was generally welcomed. Implications of mothers' reliance on their children for emotional support are explored from the child's perspective. While such behavior has largely been pathologized in the clinical literature, this data suggests that mothers' leaning on children for emotional support and advice contributed to a sense of equality, closeness, and friend status. These qualities appeared to be valued by the participants in this study. Implications for family practitioners and scholars, as they relate to notions of boundary violation and adolescent development, are discussed from a family strengths perspective.
... On the one hand, parental divorce is often a highly stressful experience for children with negative effects on their short-term well-being (Amato, 2000;Miller and Rahe, 1997), pointing to the possibility that their self-efficacy may be weakened as they may feel helpless and overwhelmed by this difficult family situation. On the other hand, the divorce literature also suggests that the majority of children manage to adjust well to their parents' divorce in the long-term (Amato, 2001;Kelly and Emery, 2003) and often gain in independence and maturity from the divorce (Arditti, 1999;Hetherington and Stanley-Hagan, 1999;Riggio, 2004). ...
... mother-often can no longer afford the same standard of living after divorce (Becker, 1991). These changes in their family contexts create situational imperatives for children to take on increased household responsibilities and to solve problems on their own without the help of their parents, thus requiring them to become more independent, mature and self-reliant (Arditti, 1999;Hetherington, 1989;Riggio, 2004;Weiss, 1979). Such experiences of mastery are critical drivers underlying the development of beliefs of having control over outcomes in life as they promote individuals' confidence in their ability to successfully complete challenging tasks and thus enhance their self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977(Bandura, , 1982(Bandura, , 2012Bandura and Wood, 1989). ...
... For instance, our post-hoc analyses indicate that children seem not to carry any self-efficacy gains from divorce when their custodial parent is unemployed after the divorce, suggesting that there is some heterogeneity inherent in the relation between parental divorce and the development of children's selfefficacy. Nevertheless, our finding of an average positive relation between parental divorce and self-efficacy aligns with prior observations that most children adjust well to their parents' divorce (Amato, 2001;Kelly and Emery, 2003) and that children often gain in self-reliance from the divorce (Arditti, 1999;Hetherington and Stanley-Hagan, 1999;Riggio, 2004). ...
We examine how parental divorce in early life affects performance in entrepreneurship in adulthood. Drawing on life course theory and empirical analyses of US self-employment and childhood data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we show that entrepreneurs' experience of parental divorce in childhood benefits their entrepreneurial performance in adulthood through a gain in self-efficacy while simultaneously suppressing entrepreneurial performance through a shortfall in human capital. We also show that whether the performance advantages or disadvantages from parental divorce dominate depends on parental human capital. While parental divorce is associated with underperformance for entrepreneurs whose parents have high levels of human capital, it is positively related to entrepreneurial performance for those with low parental human capital. Our study contributes new theory and evidence on the intertemporal relationship between past family contexts and present entrepreneurial performance.
... Parents' disclosures also may be helpful in the event that they offer children the opportunity to learn more about their parents, gain knowledge about themselves, or better understand family rules, roles, and values (Dolgin, 1996;Koerner, Wallace, Lehman, & Escalante, 2004). Parental disclosures can also foster intimacy between parents and children and increase the quality of parent-child relationships (Arditti, 1999;Donovan et al., 2016), as well as facilitate children's sense of equality in parent-child relationships, which is more important as children become older (Arditti, 1999). Children who have positive views of parental disclosures are often appreciative of their parents' openness and honesty (Afifi & McManus, 2010;Xiao, Li, & Stanton, 2010). ...
... Parents' disclosures also may be helpful in the event that they offer children the opportunity to learn more about their parents, gain knowledge about themselves, or better understand family rules, roles, and values (Dolgin, 1996;Koerner, Wallace, Lehman, & Escalante, 2004). Parental disclosures can also foster intimacy between parents and children and increase the quality of parent-child relationships (Arditti, 1999;Donovan et al., 2016), as well as facilitate children's sense of equality in parent-child relationships, which is more important as children become older (Arditti, 1999). Children who have positive views of parental disclosures are often appreciative of their parents' openness and honesty (Afifi & McManus, 2010;Xiao, Li, & Stanton, 2010). ...
... It is common for both married and divorced parents to disclose information about the other parent, financial concerns, and personal concerns (Afifi, 2003;Afifi et al., 2007;Afifi, Afifi, & Coho, 2009;Dolgin, 1996;Koerner et al., 2000;Koerner et al., 2002;Koerner et al., 2004;Miller & Stubblefield, 1993). Parents also regularly disclose topics deemed off-limits by children (Arditti, 1999), such as intimacy and sexual problems (Dolgin, 1996;Miller & Stubblefield, 1993), information about a separation or impending divorce plans (Westberg, Nelson, & Piercy, 2002), new dating relationships (Anderson et al., 2004), and child living arrangements (McManus & Nussbaum, 2011). Some topics seem to be related to more harmful reactions than others. ...
Objective
To examine individuals' attitudes about parental disclosures to children.
Background
Parents' disclosures can either help or hinder children's coping with family‐related stressors. Knowing what is appropriate to disclose, however, is not always clear.
Method
We examined judgments about parental disclosures using a mixed‐methods approach. In 18 factorial vignettes, information about a parent's marital status and gender and a child's age and gender were randomly varied; a convenience sample of 561 individuals evaluated the appropriateness of parental disclosures. An open‐ended question asked respondents to explain their answers.
Results
Quantitative data indicated that children's ages and parents' gender affected attitudes about disclosures, but parents' marital status and children's gender did not. Qualitative responses indicated that participants were concerned about parental disclosures putting children in the middle of parents' problems. Disclosures about sexual issues were considered inappropriate for school‐aged children but appropriate for adolescents.
Conclusion
There is consensus on evaluations of the appropriateness of specific parental disclosures. Negative disclosures are perceived as potentially harmful to offspring regardless of parents' marital status. Some topics are seen as more acceptable to disclose to adolescents than to younger children, and evaluations of specific disclosures differ for fathers and mothers.
Implications
A better understanding of how people evaluate parental disclosures may be useful to family therapists, parent educators, and others who work with families.
... Unfortunately, despite the variety of foci in divorce research, many samples tend to be limited to data collected largely from mothers (Luedemann, Ehrenberg, & Hunter, 2008;Arditti, 1999;Markham, Ganong, & Coleman, 2007). Arditti (1999) focuses solely on the impact of divorce on mother-child relationships, in what becomes a highly informative qualitative study. ...
... Unfortunately, despite the variety of foci in divorce research, many samples tend to be limited to data collected largely from mothers (Luedemann, Ehrenberg, & Hunter, 2008;Arditti, 1999;Markham, Ganong, & Coleman, 2007). Arditti (1999) focuses solely on the impact of divorce on mother-child relationships, in what becomes a highly informative qualitative study. ...
... Like the studies of Arditti (1999) and Markham et al., (2007), Luedemann et al. (2008) was a very mother oriented study; because of this, we have little to no information on how fathers see their children after a divorce. Such a lack of fathering information in studies on the effects of divorce on children establishes a clear need for further research on fathers in the future. ...
This study examined the influence of co-parenting on the parent-child relationship. Using data from the 7th wave of collection of the Early Years of Marriage Study factors such as parents’ perceptions of parent-child relationship quality, the role of gender on time parents spend with their children on parent-child relationship quality were analyzed to determine whether perceptions of the co-parenting relationship were related to the parent-child relationship in divorced families. Results indicated that certain aspects of the co-parenting relationship affected some aspects of the parent-child relationship but not others. There were also differences based on parent gender where fathers reported more satisfaction with their ex-spouse’s relationship with their children than mothers. Further, satisfaction with one’s relationship with their former spouse was the single greatest predictor of overall parent-child relationship quality. Results of this study demonstrate that establishing a cooperative post-divorce co-parenting relationship for both former spouses as well as parent-child relationships. If parents come to better understand the importance of cooperative co-parenting, divorce may less negatively affect family functioning.
... Wallerstein og Blakeslee (1989) diskuterer nettopp problematikken om barn som påføres for stort ansvar etter foreldrenes skilsmisse, og bruker betegnelsen "overburdened children". Arditti (1999) peker derimot på at det at barn føler at de gir mor støtte i en vanskelig tid, vil kunne føre til at det utvikles et vennskap mellom mor og barn som kan vaere en sunn basis for utvikling av autonomi, saerlig for større barn. Også funn fra familieforandringsundersøkelsen viser at mange barn tar stort ansvar for foreldrenes ve og vel. ...
... Autoritets-strukturen i en toforeldrefamilie er basert på en hierarkisk ordning hvor foreldrenes posisjon er overordna barnas, og det er foreldrenes subsystemer som har mest makt (Andersen 2001). Dette generasjonshierarkiet kan bryte sammen etter samlivsbruddet, saerlig der hvor foreldrene er i konflikt med hverandre (Arditti 1999). Etablering av en stefamilie vil bety at det oppstår en ny hierarkisk struktur. ...
Anslagsvis 87000 barn bor med en steforelder. En økende andel barn antas å oppleve samlivsbrudd mellom foreldrene i de kommende årene og flere og flere barn får steforeldre. Denne artikkelen undersøker barns opplevelse av å ha stefar. Det diskuteres hvilken betydningfamilieendringene har for relasjonene mellom mor og barn og hvilken betydning stefar kan ha for barn økonomisk/materielt og sosialt.
... The lack of structural or legal constraints mandating parent-adult child interactions, for example, may engender questions regarding if, and how, the parent-child relationship or extended family relationships may change (Greenwood, 2012;Westphal et al., 2015). Adult children may also grapple with uncertainty surrounding postdivorce communicative boundaries and norms, including the expectation to give rather than receive emotional support (Arditti, 1999;Jurkovic, Thirkield, & Morrell, 2001). Similar to parents, adult children may also grapple with the degree or appropriateness of divorce-related disclosures or inquires (Afifi, Schrodt, & McManus, 2009). ...
... In several circumstances, role changes resulted in emotional parentification (Jurkovic, Jessee, & Goglia, 1991;Jurkovic et al., 2001) and adult children feeling like they needed to provide their parents with emotional support. Although some research finds that postdivorce role changes and emotional parentification enhances closeness within the parent-adolescent relationship (e.g., Afifi et al., 2009;Arditti, 1999), adult children found this to be an unwelcome change. Despite knowing that their parents needed emotional support, they felt it was not appropriate for them to seek it from their children, as evidenced by Meredith: ...
The present study utilizes the relational turbulence model (RTM) to illuminate adult children’s experiences of relational uncertainty and interference from partners following late-life parental divorce (LLPD). In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 25 adult children who had experienced parental divorce later in life revealed that adult children grappled with four broad themes of relational uncertainty: (a) parent–adult child relationship uncertainty, (b) parent as individual uncertainty, (c) divorce-related uncertainty, and (d) being a family uncertainty. Interference from partners was couched within adult children’s experiences of feeling caught and manifested as (a) disruptions to normative developmental stressors and (b) disruptions to maintaining family ties. The discussion highlights the theoretical implications of our results for the RTM and the larger divorce literature, along with practical recommendations to assist those grappling with LLPD.
... Parents may believe that older children are better able to process complex information (McManus & Nussbaum, 2013). Also, parents may recognize that disclosing to their EA children is a means of fostering closeness and trust (Arditti, 1999) during a time when children are increasingly autonomous. EAs have indicated that they do wish to be connected to their parents and informed of important family matters (e.g., Holland & O'Neill, 2006). ...
... There is an intriguing contrast between parental disclosures to EA children and disclosures during initial interactions or non-familial relationship development. Although the parent-EA disclosure episodes do not equate to traditional "getting acquainted" talk, they nonetheless occur at a unique time of relationship development (Arditti, 1999). Some of the defining qualities of parental disclosures in our research involved children learning more about their parents' personalities and life experiences. ...
Research on openness and disclosure has prioritized the perspectives of disclosers and largely omitted the experiences of confidants. In particular, we contend that it is important to learn more about how emerging adult (EA) confidants perceive parental disclosure episodes and how parental openness manifests in ways that lead to increased intimacy. In Study One, participants’ open-ended descriptions of parental disclosures were thematically analyzed to reveal three dimensions of parental openness: access to information, candor, and relating as peers. These dimensions were developed into quantitative scales and employed to test a conceptual model of post-disclosure outcomes in Study Two. When EA confidants perceived that parents gave them more access to information and treated them more as peers, they reported higher ratings of disclosure quality and, in turn, greater relational closeness following the disclosure.
... On the other hand, when parents divorce and there is relatively little blatant conflict, children have shown to be worse off following the divorce (Amato, Loomis, & Booth, 1995;Booth & Amato, 2001;Jekielek, 1998;Morrison & Coiro, 1999 In contrast to much of the literature discussed above, positive outcomes do occur in children whose parents have divorced. In her study of young adults whose parents divorced when they were children, Arditti (1999) approaches divorce with the idea that it provides a positive context in which closer relationships for some mothers and their children are fostered. Arditti suggests that young adults who live with their divorced parent, in particular their mothers, develop positive parent-child relationships. ...
... There is minimal research on the experiences of children whose parents divorce late in life when they are already adults (Pett, Lang, & Gadner, 1992;Pryor, 1999;Vettern, 2006). Contrary to Arditti's (1999) findings, other research indicates that a burden is placed on young adults forced to provide advice, emotional support, and practical help to their divorced parents (Pryor; Vettern). This may be attributed to the later chronological age of the children in these studies when the divorce of their parents occurred. ...
... Furthermore, adult children may be inclined to assist their resource-deprived lone parents (Becker, 1993). Divorced parents may also seek emotional support or advice from their adult children (Arditti, 1999), and in some cases, even coreside with them (Cooney, 1989). Such situations may intensify solidarity with one of the divorced parents. ...
Objective
With rising grey divorce rates, older individuals face heightened risk of social isolation, highlighting the significance of adult children as a vital source of solidarity in the absence of a spouse. Simultaneously, grey divorce may undermine parent-adult child relationships and weaken the core of the family safety net of older persons. This study examined the consequences of grey divorce for parent-child relationships.
Method
We used longitudinal data from the German Family Panel (Pairfam), a large-scale panel study collecting detailed information about family relationships and family structure. We focused on adult children aged 18-49 (n=9,092) whose parents were married at first observation. During an observation period spanning up to 13 years (2008-2020), 606 individuals experienced parental divorce. Using fixed-effects models, we estimated changes in contact frequency, emotional closeness, and instrumental and emotional support provided to parents.
Results
Consequences of grey divorce varied strongly between mothers and fathers. Adult child solidarity intensified for mothers but eroded for fathers. This impact was strongest for changes in contact frequency, moderate for changes in emotional closeness, and smaller for changes in support. The persistence of gender role differentiation was evident, as daughters displayed closer ties and provided greater support to their mothers following a grey divorce.
Discussion
Divorce alters relationships with adult children. A grey divorce tilts adult child solidarity towards mothers and puts fathers at a higher risk of social isolation. Moreover, the observed gender dynamics underscore the continued influence of gender roles on family dynamics in the aftermath of grey divorce.
... Globally both qualitative and quantitative research relating to the parent child relationship has been conducted on children perspective on the nature of parenting roles, Another study conducted by Arditti (1999), interviewed 58 young adult children who experienced parental divorce to examine qualitative aspects of mother-child relationships and strengths in these relationships. They explained mother-child relationship marked by closeness, appreciation for her deeds, and concern her well-being from child description. ...
Although sufficient work on parent-child relationship has been conducted worldwide, the number of studies that focus on parental behavior and perceived meaning are very limited. Additionally, as culture is known to shape human behavior in numerous ways, is necessary to understand this behavior in the context of Bangladesh. The aim of the present study was to understand parent child relationship and their perceived meaning among the children. A qualitative research design using grounded theory approach was adopted in this study to
explore the behavior pattern from narrative collected from both parents and children. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select ten participants among them four were child and six were parent, using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. In-depth interview was used to collect data which were audio recorded for ensuring accuracy. Data analysis involved verbatim transcription of the interviews followed by open and axial coding. This study found nineteen specific types of parental behavior and eleven types of perceived meaning of those behaviors in relation to parent-child relationship. The findings provided detailed insight and understanding of parent-child relationship along with process
of creating healthy environment in parent-child relationship. The findings clearly reflect that healthy environment of parent child relationship is developed by how children perceive their parents behavior. Moreover it was also found that in parent-child relationship reciprocity of taking care is developed through the establishment of cooperativeness and internalization of parental rules. Present study can contribute into this through enhanced knowledge from detailed understanding on parent- child relationship. The results suggest practical implications for clinical intervention as creating healthy environment in parent child relationship for Bangladeshi population.
http://repository.library.du.ac.bd:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/445/Shamima%20Akter.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
... These studies reveal that single mothers exhibit self dependence, personal growth, optimism, determination, confidence and strong networking skills as a result of their status (Ford-Gilboe, 2000, Morrison, 1995Anderson, 1994;Sharma, 1993). Furthermore, the relationship between single mothers and their children has been found to be very close, cordial, friendly, honest, and devoid of conflict (Arditti, 1999;Richards and Schmiege, 1993), while their children have also been found to exhibit high self-esteem, lower levels of anxiety, depression, hostility and problematic alcohol use than their counterparts from traditional families (Golombok and Badger, 2010). The strengths of single female parent families revealed by these studies are in direct contrast to the pathologized view of single female parent families in the literature. ...
This article examines the coping strategies of single female parents in Accra. Single female parents within Maamobi, New Dansoman and Roman Ridge areas in Accra were interviewed through in-depth interviews and a survey. Specifically, the study sought to find out the socioeconomic factors that account for single female parenthood and how single female parents economically and socially support their households. The major findings are that divorce is principally responsible for single female parenthood mainly due to the infidelity of husbands. In the absence of men (husbands), single female parents although earning incomes which are low, bear the bulk of responsibility in the maintenance of children and the household. The fathers of the children of single female parents mostly do not assist the women in the maintenance of children. Kin of single female parents on the other hand mostly assist the women with housing and household chores. The study concludes that single female parents are to a great extent self-reliant in dealing with their responsibilities as parents.
... Moreover, gray divorce reduces parents' economic resources by cutting nest eggs in half (Lin & Brown, 2020;Sharma, 2015), likely diminishing their financial transfers to adult children. On the other hand, gray divorce may increase contact as children form alliances with one parent or divorced parents lean on adult children for emotional support or advice (Arditti, 1999) or even coresidence (Cooney, 1989). Divorced parents may also harbor feelings of guilt that they could attempt to assuage by augmenting their financial transfers to their children (Troilo & Coleman, 2012). ...
Objective
Divorce is now widespread in later life, yet little is known about how older adults and their adult children respond in the aftermath of gray divorce. Guided by the life course perspective, this study examines the consequences of gray divorce and subsequent repartnering for parent-adult child relationships from the parent’s perspective.
Method
Using longitudinal data from the 1998-2014 Health and Retirement Study in the United States, we estimated growth curve models to compare fathers’ and mothers’ frequent contact with and financial support to their adult children prior to, during, and following gray divorce.
Results
Gray divorce and repartnering had disparate effects on father- versus mother-adult child relationships. Following divorce, fathers’ frequent contact with their adult children decreased but financial support to their adult children increased. Fathers’ repartnering had an enduring negative effect on frequent contact with their children. Gray divorce did not alter mothers’ financial support to adult children and it actually increased interaction between mothers and adult children as the odds of frequent contact doubled upon divorce. Repartnering had no appreciable effects on mothers’ relationships with their adult children.
Discussion
The results of our study are consistent with prior research showing that divorce creates a matrifocal tilt in our kinship system. The shifting dynamics of parent-adult child relationships in response to gray divorce and repartnering raise questions about whether gray divorced parents will be able to rely on their adult children for care as they age.
... Children who experienced parental divorce often suffer from loyalty conflicts and tend to lean on one parent to avoid these conflicts (Arditti, 1999;Golish, 2003;Koerner, Jacobs & Raymond, 2000). In some cases, negative P-DPD has led to the formation of parent-child coalitions and high levels of closeness and satisfaction with the live-in parent (Afifi & McManus, 2010). ...
Post-divorce parental disclosures(P-DPD), in which parents tell their children about their ex-spouse after a divorce, has an impact on the parent–child relationship. Previous research has assumed that P-DPD is negative. The present study aimed to develop a parental disclosure scale that includes positive aspects. Additionally, we investigated the effects of parental disclosure on children’s mental health. Sixty-one Japanese participants who experienced parental divorce were asked to respond to the parental disclosure scale, as well as the parental affinity scale, mental health scale, and items on socio-demographic information. The results indicated that the factor structure of the P-DPD scale included 19 items and two factors. The P-DPD scale showed adequate internal reliability. Although positive parental disclosure did not directly affect children’s mental health, it indirectly improved mental health through the affinity to the live-in parent. Further, only in the group with interaction with the separated parent did negative parent disclosure increase the affinity for the separated parent. These results suggest that positive parental disclosure is important in Japan. The P-DPD scale that assessed both positive and negative aspects could be expected to be used to determine the quality of the parent– child relationships after divorce.
... 109). While some studies have found that these role shifts are detrimental to adolescents, others found that adolescents from non-intact families understand the necessity of increasing self-reliance and enjoy the benefits of greater independence and decision making (Arditti, 1999;Riggio, 2004). In addition, regarding feelings of social connectedness, Riggio (2004) found that adolescents from non-intact families reported significantly greater numbers of perceived available social supports than adolescents from intact families. ...
Adolescents are particularly susceptible to development of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) by using social media. Closely connected to social media addiction, this phenomenon is not exclusively dependent on individual characteristics but is also affected by the family environment. Family structure, parental relationship quality, and parenting style are factors influencing adolescents’ media use, and therefore likely contribute to the development of FoMO. Despite an increasing focus on the relationship between family characteristics and children’s online behavior, not much research has been conducted that relates the family to FoMO. Therefore, this study serves as an exploration. Using online survey data from Flemish and Brussels adolescents aged 13 to 18 years old (N = 831), we developed a structural equation model. As expected, social media use is positively associated with FoMO. Moreover, family structure and parenting style play an important role in the development of FoMO: being part of a non-intact family, fathers’ parenting style, and perceived high-quality relationships with parents are protective factors for FoMO, while perceived high-quality relationships between parents is a risk factor for FoMO. These results demonstrate that an adolescent’s family context is associated with their experiences of FoMO, and also indicate that more insight in this issue is required.
... This is inconsistent with previous published research. The majority of previous research studies have reported that single-parent families have a less hierarchical communication style with less clearly differentiated boundaries compared with two-parent families (Arditti, 1999;Lachance et al., 2000;Walker & Hennig, 1997). However, unlike our study, the number of children or their age distribution was not accounted for in those previous studies. ...
The family social environment is the first environment that a child experiences and has implications for children’s health. However, the majority of family social environment measures do not account for its complexity. There is a need for novel approaches for assessing the family social environment that transcends the traditional way of measuring family composition and interaction. The purpose of this secondary data analysis research was to identify distinct family social environment typologies that consider both family composition and interaction and to describe the characteristics of the identified family social environment typologies. A series of latent class analysis results indicated three distinct typologies of family social environment with significant differences in family composition, family problem-solving skills, and demographic characteristics. The process used to identify the typologies and significant differences between the typologies showcases how the field could advance family-focused research by considering family composition and interaction.
... Bu konudaki literatür incelendiğinde, evlilik çatışması ve boşanma sürecindeki çatışmaların çocuk üzerindeki etkileri ve çocuğun boşanma sürecine uyumunu inceleyen çok fazla araştırma olduğu görülmektedir. [6,[35][36][37][38][39] ...
There is now strong consensus in the research literature that children whose parents have divorced are at increased risk of displaying a variety of problem behaviors compared to children living in continuously intact families. Divorce can be a profound catalyst for psychological, social, and economic change. Also, many studies have documented short-term and long-term negative effects of parental marital conflict and divorce for offspring, including poorer academic, social, and psychological outcomes. Researches indicate that adult offspring of divorce were experiencing more problems lifelong and evaluate divorce their own marriages than do young adults from intact families. It has been suggested that the long-term consequences of parental divorce for adult attachment and quality of life may prove to be more serious than the short-term emotional and social problems noted in childhood. As a result, divorce may lead to further stressful experiences such as disruption in parent-child relationships, loss of emotional support, economic hardship, and as well as numerous other stressful life events. Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2013; 5(2):140-161
doi:10.5455/cap.20130510
... As such, Walsh proposes that when young people are able to contribute through a network of family relations toward a shared goal, these relations enable young people to learn social virtues, develop prosocial behaviors and a sense of belonging that transcends the home environment, and allows them to adapt and work with others. While examining the relationship between divorced mothers and their children, Arditti (1999) highlighted the positive impact on the child's sense of equality, closeness, and friend status when mothers involved and relied on their children for emotional support and advice within the family. These qualities led to more value being placed on the mother-child relationship and the need to support one another. ...
A multisystemic model of resilience suggests that the capacity of one system to cope with atypical stress improves the capacity of co-occurring systems. In this paper, we review research demonstrating this relationship, where the more resilient caregivers are, the more likely children are to experience the promotive and protective factors they require for optimal growth and development in both home and school settings. We examine research from the last two decades on school- or family-based resilience promoting interventions, and advocate for a new perspective which adopts a multisystemic view of resilience in order to redirect the focus of the international research agenda, which places emphasis on children rather than systems. The implications of this multisystemic approach to resilience are discussed in relation to the design of programs that promote the well-being of parents and teachers in ways that contribute to more supportive and stable home and school environments for children.
... Zo blijkt uit verscheidene onderzoeken dat kinderen van ouders met heftige conflicten, die chronisch zijn en openlijk worden uitgevochten, beter af zijn als de ouders scheiden dan als ze getrouwd blijven (Amato, 2000;Amato & Booth, 1997;Amato, Loomis & Booth, 1995;Hanson,1999;Jekielek, 1998). Ook zijn er aanwijzingen dat dochters, na een echtscheiding, een bijzonder hechte band met hun moeder kunnen ontwikkelen (Arditti, 1999) en dat kinderen die hun vaders niet meer zien na de scheiding soms beter af kunnen zijn, bijvoorbeeld als deze vaders gewelddadig of antisociaal zijn (Jaffee et al., 2003). Traditioneel wordt de invloed van scheiding op het welzijn van kinderen bekeken vanuit drie invalshoeken (Amato, 1991): ouderlijke afwezigheid (kind heeft socialisatietekorten door het opgroeien met één in plaats van twee ouders), economisch nadeel (scheiding leidt tot minder financiële hulpbronnen voor de moeder en daarmee ook voor de kinderen), en familieconflict (ouderlijke conflicten zorgen voor stress bij kinderen wat hun welzijn niet ten goede komt). ...
In het huidige onderzoek wordt gekeken naar wat er vanuit de wetenschappelijke evaluatieliteratuur bekend is over de effec-tiviteit van verplichte mediation en verplichte scheidingseducatie in het voorkomen van vechtscheidingen. Mediation gericht op ouders die in een vechtscheiding ver-wikkeld zijn, zoals therapeutische mediation, is geen onderwerp van het huidige onderzoek.
Daarnaast wordt met het oog op de toepasbaarheid van mediation in Nederland een korte schets gegeven van de organisatiewijze van landen die naar voren zijn geko-men in de literatuurstudie. Aan de hand van wetteksten is verkend hoe mediation georganiseerd is in verschillende staten van de VS, te weten California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota en Virginia.
Tot slot is nog gekeken naar de effectuering van omgangsregelingen in het buiten-land. Omdat dit deel van het onderzoek qua onderwerp afwijkt van de rest van het onderzoek en het slechts een kleinschalige verkenning betreft, is dit gedeelte opgenomen in bijlage 3.
... Bulgularımızla tutarlı olarak, Arditti (1999), boşanmadan sonra özellikle kız çocuklarının anneleri ile daha yakın ve sıcak ilişki kurduklarını bulmuştur. Ayrıca bulguların, özellikle ülkemizde aile içinde alınan sorumluluklarda kız çocukların erkek çocuklara göre daha fazla sorumluluk alması ve Şafak'ın (1996) belirttiği gibi, özellikle ev ile ilgili faaliyetlerin sorumluluğunun büyük bölümünün ait olduğu annenin sorumluluklar ve cinsiyet rolleri noktasında kız çocuğu ile yakınlık kurabilmekte olması ve bu durumun erkek çocuklarında anneleri tarafından red edildikleri algısına sebep olabileceğinden kaynaklandığı düşünülebilir. ...
İnsanın kim olduğuna dair soruşturmalar bütün felsefe tarihinin ana temalarından birini oluşturmuş ve kimlik sorunu farklı disiplinler tarafından irdelenmiştir. Ricoeur, öncelikle her ikisini de yeniden tanımlamak koşulu ile, hermeneutik yorumu, psikoanalitik bakış açısı ile harmanladığı bir yöntem olarak ele alır ve bahsedilen kimlik sorununun değerlendirilmesinde bu metottan faydalanır. Ricoeur için anlatı yoruma imkan tanıyışı hatta buna okuyucusunu mecbur bırakışı ile hem kendini hem insanı yeniden şekillendirme ve "başka türlü" olma ve davranma olanakları yaratır. Ricoeur'un "Anlatısal Kimlik", "Tarihsel Kimlik" "Özdeşlik" terimleriyle örtüştürdüğü kimlik analizi bu bağlamlarda tanımlanır. Makalede bu terimlere ve yöntemlere bir yaklaşım getirmek amaçlanmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Kimlik, anlatısal, tarihsel, hermeneutik, psikoanaliz
... The quality of contact experiences has far more impact on children's psychological well-being than does the quantity or format. Factors which predict positive involvement by non-resident fathers have been found to include higher levels of education (Cooksey & Craig, 1998), higher income (Arditti, 1999), children being older (Peacey & Haux, 2007), regular financial contributions from fathers (Peacey & Haux, 2007;Trinder, Beek, & Connolly, 2002), less geographical distance (Kelly & Lamb, 2003) and shorter time since separation (Baum, 2003). Lower levels of non-resident father involvement have also been linked to the remarriage of either parent, arrival of new biological children (Hetherington & Kelly, 2002), and protracted and adversarial legal proceedings (Baum, 2003). ...
Child contact arrangements with parents following separation and divorce are strongly endorsed for children in both public policy and law where safe, but can be difficult to sustain. Entrenched high-conflict post-separation relationships between parents can cause substantial emotional risks to children as well as impacting severely on parents’ mental health. This paper describes a qualitative study, aimed at examining parents’ experiences of contact arrangements post-separation, undertaken within a mixed methods random allocation study of therapeutic outcomes for parents in entrenched conflict over their children. Two established semi-structured interviews with 22 parents were jointly subjected to thematic analyses. A thematic analysis across interviews revealed three main themes: ‘Dealing with contact evokes extreme states of mind’ for parents; when speaking of contact, the child is ‘everywhere and nowhere’ in the parents’ minds; ‘the hardest thing about contact is dealing with my ex-partner’. These findings indicate the immense strain children and parents are under and shed much light on the desperate states of mind for parents, particularly the anxieties driving relentless child contact disputes. This paper may contribute to the understanding of parents’ experiences of contact arrangements post-separation, potentially providing important information which can inform best practice for professionals working with this population.
... An alternate explanation for gendered differences could be that mothers may be more apt to build relationships with their daughters, or may be more likely to confide in them (Arditti, 1999). Another explanation emphasizes the agency of the children: Boys and girls may look to their mothers for different types of support and guidance. ...
... Bu konudaki literatür incelendiğinde, evlilik çatışması ve boşanma sürecindeki çatışmaların çocuk üzerindeki etkileri ve çocuğun boşanma sürecine uyumunu inceleyen çok fazla araştırma olduğu görülmektedir. [6,[35][36][37][38][39] ...
There is now strong consensus in the research literature that children whose parents have divorced are at increased risk of displaying a variety of problem behaviors compared to children living in continuously intact families. Divorce can be a profound catalyst for psychological, social, and economic change. Also, many studies have documented short-term and long-term negative effects of parental marital conflict and divorce for offspring, including poorer academic, social, and psychological outcomes. Researches indicate that adult offspring of divorce were experiencing more problems lifelong and evaluate divorce their own marriages than do young adults from intact families. It has been suggested that the long-term consequences of parental divorce for adult attachment and quality of life may prove to be more serious than the short-term emotional and social problems noted in childhood. As a result, divorce may lead to further stressful experiences such as disruption in parent-child relationships, loss of emotional support, economic hardship, and as well as numerous other stressful life events.
... Studies often focus on challenges and negative impacts of single parent families on children. Less focus has been placed on issues experienced by single parents (Telsiz, 2000;Amato, 2000;Arditti, 1999;Amato & Booth, 1996;Kelly, 2000). On the other hand, separation and divorce can impede with parenting (Kelly, 2000). ...
The purpose of this study was to investigate post-divorce challenges and coping mechanisms of single mothers from differing socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds. Participants of the study were 125 divorced women who had not remarried and had at least one child. Proceeding calculation of descriptive statistic on the Scale for Vulnerability to Issues and Scale for Attitudes toward Problem Solving, either independent t-test or one-way analysis of variance was used depending on the number of categories of socio-economic and socio-demographic variables. Results showed that younger women had higher means on scales for vulnerability and problem solving attitudes. Women with elementary education scored higher on the vulnerability scale than those with higher education.
... The idea that divorcing individuals often work to transform family structure and to create stronger and more positive relationships is an intriguing albeit understudied perspective that informs the study (Arditti, 1999b;Stewart, Copeland, Chester, & Malley, 1997). In contrast to stress and coping frameworks, an alternative perspective conceptualizes divorce as an emotional and cognitive process that has the potential to promote individual growth and self-renewal. ...
This study investigates the divorce experiences of 21 men and women in order to understand (a) the perceived connections between divorce and participants' post— divorce thinking about intimate relationships, and (b) changes sought in post-divorce relationships. Sensitizing concepts from social constructionism, attribution and attachment theories guided this study. Qualitative analysis revealed that attributed causes of marital termination were linked to characteristics sought in current relationships. Changes sought included greater equality within relationships, more expressive communication, and improved conflict resolution skills. The divorce experience appears to provide a catalyst for personal growth, but is also linked to greater insecurity in relationships. Gendered differences in the interpretive process also emerged from the data.
Research efforts that have focused attention on triadic and larger (polyadic) relationships in families with adolescents largely have focused on a core number of “compelling family processes.” These family processes historically have been used to describe the reciprocal and mutually causal interactions that occur between and among family members over time. This chapter reviews studies of these family processes over the past 25 years that have included constructs such as family differentiation, triangulation, parentification, family conflict, and family decision-making activities. Particular attention is paid to the increased use of multiple family member perspectives in this type of research. The increased concentration on variation in family processes as a function of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and other significant demographic variables is discussed as well. Finally, empirical efforts that have focused on the impact of siblings are highlighted, as these studies are thought to represent an important and innovative advancement in the study of families with adolescents.
The triangulation process represents a violation of the boundary between parental and child relational subsystems which, in turn, affects family dynamics and relationships. The paper, with distinct reference to marital conflict and divorced couples, describes the main causes of the triangulation process and its impact on children (and adolescents) as significant third participants within the parental conflict. Besides, it fo-cuses on long-term consequences associated with triangulation process to parental conflict exposure, that can adversely affect the well-being of children during their life-cycle, and even into adulthood. A data-search was carried out for articles to be included in the review and articles were retrieved from different electronic databases (first: Scopus and Web of Science, then: PsychINFO, Google Scholar, EBSCO and ScienceDirect,). After having initially considered 152 articles, 58 studies were selected for this research. A qualitative analysis was conducted on selected studies, focusing on: (1) different types of triangulation commonly used in intergenerational family relationships; (2) an updated summary of the research around the impact of triangulation on the well-being of children and the parent-child conflict; and (3) the main characteristics of successful intervention of preventative and psychotherapeutic treatments. In conclusion, the results, examining the long-term effects of the triangulation process, highlight the developmental paths of children that are more exposed and at risk, and focuses on the importance of preventing the intergenerational transmission of marital conflict, as a way to reduce mental health costs and to improve the well-being of children and families who are all involved in these conflicting and destructive dynamics.
This longitudinal investigation tested a theoretically-specified model of the etiology and developmental consequences of parent-child role confusion, wherein there is a deterioration of generational boundaries such that the parent looks to their child to meet the parent's own needs for comfort or support. Employing a diverse sample of 250 female caregiver-child dyads (50% female and 46% Latinx children), this study tested a fully-latent structural equation model to evaluate serial mediation from parents' reported history of their own maltreatment to children's psychopathology in late childhood via role confusion during the preschool years and children's negative representations of the parent in middle childhood. As hypothesized, the severity of parents' own history of child maltreatment was associated with higher role confusion in their relationship with their preschooler, and this role confusion contributed to children's negative representations of the parent during middle childhood, which, in turn, were associated with higher levels of child psychopathology. This study informs developmental science and clinical practice by elucidating modifiable mechanisms by which a parent's prior experience of child maltreatment may impact their child's adaptation in the next generation. Interventions that support the stability of vertical parent-child boundaries may buffer children from negative intergenerational child maltreatment effects.
Parental divorce brings a variety of potential risks for children. Experiences of stress and loss, reduced parental effectiveness, and exposure to parental conflict, among other stressors, may contribute to negative outcomes for children following divorce. Literature on intervening with children directly and helping children by improving parenting and co‐parenting interactions are reviewed to derive treatment recommendations. Key points include providing developmentally appropriate ways for children to process their emotions, connecting children to support systems, helping parents maintain their effectiveness as parents, and reducing stress on children from conflict. A case example is shared to demonstrate interventions and decision making in therapy.
Parental divorce brings a variety of potential risks for children. Experiences of stress and loss, reduced parental effectiveness, and exposure to parental conflict, among other stressors, may contribute to negative outcomes for children following divorce. Literature on intervening with children directly and helping children by improving parenting and co‐parenting interactions are reviewed to derive treatment recommendations. Key points include providing developmentally appropriate ways for children to process their emotions, connecting children to support systems, helping parents maintain their effectiveness as parents, and reducing stress on children from conflict. A case example is shared to demonstrate interventions and decision making in therapy.
Parental divorce affects countless families every year around the globe. Literature reveals detrimental effects of parental divorce on families, particularly on children and adolescents. Few studies, however, explored possible recommendations on how to effectively cope with this event from individuals who have experienced it themselves. The present study subsequently inquired practical recommendations from young adults who had experienced parental divorce during their childhood and/or adolescent years. Data was collected through semi-structured retrospective interviews with 15 young South African adults who were selected by means of snowball sampling. The findings revealed 2 sets of practical recommendations for both parents and children to enhance coping with parental divorce with effective communication in relationships emerging as a vital coping skill. It is hoped that these recommendations will enable psychotherapists, social workers and/or any other individual/s involved in assisting families undergoing divorce to cope more optimally with this event.
Abstract
This study focused on finding answers about an important question that parents are recently asking psychological professionals. This question has become more relevant in the last couple of decades as there are increasing divorce rates in Turkey and the rest of the world. Because of this reason, parents are asking the important question: is it better for our child to divorce or continue our marriage? Researchers come up with very different results to this question. They need to not only focus on the effects of divorce itself but also need to examine the quality of the relationship be-tween the parents. Parents need to remember this very important point that divorce is not the only thing that effects children’s psychological adjustment by itself. So, the answer of the question to divorce or stay together is answered by the amount of parental conflict and the quality of the parent’s relationship. As a result, the ideal environment for children’s psychological development is living with both parents in the same household and having a low-conflict parents.
Key words: Divorce, marriage, children, parental conflict, psychological adjustment.
Session 1: Families and Resilience. Presenter: Helen Crohn, D.S.W., Adelphi University (2005) - "Young Women Recall Their Positive Relationships with Their Mothers and Stepmothers". Respondent: Dr. Marilyn Lewis, The Ohio State University.
The present chapter is devoted to the factors that influence post-divorce adjustment in the lives of children and adolescents. Whereas ex-spouses are free to make decisions about their lives, children and adolescents from divorced parents find themselves in a less favourable situation. They do usually not form part of the decision-making process but are still confronted with all the resulting consequences of divorce.
Studies on men who batter their partners seldom consider that many of these men are also fathers or stepfathers of children. This study draws upon several weeks of observations of group sessions with men court-mandated into group counseling due to their violence in relationships with intimate partners. Subsequent intensive interviews were conducted with eight fathers from among the group participants. Our focus was on their experiences with and reflections upon themselves as fathers. We found many of the men used the father role as a source of reentry into moral community. Specifically, the themes of catastrophic moment, remorse, responsibility, reparational scripts, redemption, and reconstruction are discussed in a process of moving beyond bravado. We draw implications for further research with fathers who batter as well as suggestions for human services and criminal justice professionals who may work with men and their families in these situations.
This book chapter covers a complex and multifaceted area of family development: families with adolescents. Following some preparatory remarks regarding definitions of terms, this chapter presents two related sections regarding our knowledge base about families facing the demands of this particular developmental period. The first section is concerned with theories that frame our understanding of families with adolescents, whereas the second section deals with family-based research findings. These two sections draw evenly from a broad cross-section of social science disciplines, providing an integrative and concise approach to the interdisciplinary nature of work being conducted in this area of inquiry.
The present work reviews the literature pertaining to family mediation, its assumptions, and methods, with the extended goal of updating the concepts and practices involved, in light of our changing society. Focus is on the evolution of life styles, family models, divorce, and legislation addressing these issues. The mutual reflection of social values and contemporary law has drawn into the public sphere many issues that were long considered to be private.
This study uses postings by divorced fathers to an unmoderated Internet chat room to sound and analyze their voices. The findings show that the posters expressed an acute sense of powerlessness with respect to their status as non-residential fathers, the imposition of child support, the mothers of their children, the family courts, and lawyers and helping professionals. Although most of their grievances have already been reported in the literature on non-custodial post-divorce parenting, the anonymous postings allow us to hear an intensity of feeling that comes through much more faintly in studies based on interviews or focus groups. Since the posters seem to be a particularly aggrieved and angry group of men who are unlikely to seek professional counseling, the authors suggest professional intervention via the Internet. The challenges that chat room data poses to research are noted.
The Processual and Multidimensional Nature of StepfamiliesConclusion and Suggestions for Future Research
The book provides a comprehensive overview of the psychosocial and legal aspects of divorce with special reference to the situation in Spain, addressing the grounds for divorce and its impact on parents and children. Theoretical approaches are applied that take into account the psychosocial conditions and the Spanish legislation. Subsequenty, an empirical analysis of preferred custody arrangements reveals some of the current problems that are associated with a joint custody regime. Lastly, the suitability of divorce mediation is examined within the framework of the Spanish legislation. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010. All rights are reserved.
It is clear that divorce shapes children's and adolescents lives in a variety of ways and that these are largely negative – they have worse physical and psychological health, they are less well‐off financially and have an increased likelihood of themselves divorcing. Aside from outcomes which are easily measurable, less is known about the ways in which divorce impacts on long‐term relationships ‐ particularly those between children and their parents.
This exploratory paper looks at the relationships between divorced mothers and their adult children and finds that, like other studies, their relationships are marked by intimacy, but unlike other studies, this intimacy is neither enjoyed nor embraced. The participants report that their mothers were damaged by the separation, that their anger is ongoing many years afterwards. It is argued that these factors, amongst others, contribute to the ambivalent relationships some of the participants perceive they have with their mothers today and their uncertainty about caring for them in the future.
Children and particularly adolescents react differently to parental divorce. Referring to Minuchin's structural family therapy, this paper highlights the views of twenty adolescents on their relationships with their custodial parents, non-custodial parents and siblings, including the subsystems that emerged following parental divorce. Non-probability purposive sampling was employed to procure a sample of information-rich participants. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescents, who shared valuable information pertinent to their feelings that inhibited some from having healthy relations with their parents and siblings. Suggestions for social work intervention in underresourced areas such as the Waterberg District, Limpopo Province are presented.
With the termination of a marriage, children involved inevitably experience dramatic changes in different facets of their lives. This article makes use of narrative accounts of divorced single parents to investigate how their marital dissolution has impacted and changed their children's lives. Empirical data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 25 Singaporean divorced parents. Within the policy and social context of Singapore society, I highlight transformations in three specific aspects of the children's lives: one, the reconfigurations of familial relationships and formation of a new family unit; two, the creation of and adaptation to new family practices and routine; three, the adoption of new social identity following parental divorce. This article hopes to present a more nuanced understanding of the divorce experience by emphasizing both the precarious and productive aspects in the children's lives, contra to the existing divorce literature that typically focuses on the former.
The concept of boundary dissolution has a long history in both the psychodynamic and family systems literatures and is linked to a number of important processes in developmental psychopathology. However, advancements in the empirical study of boundary dissolution have been hindered by the multiplicity of terms and conceptualizations that have been used to capture the construct. The purpose of this paper is to present a multidimensional model of boundary dissolution and to show how the specific dimensions of the construct might be differentially linked to pathological processes in development. Research from a series of studies is presented that lends support to this model.
Although concern for their children's well-being is pivotal in mothers' decisions to leave abusive partners, rarely is lone-parent family life after leaving framed as beneficial for family members' emotional health. In this feminist grounded theory study of family health promotion in the aftermath of intimate partner violence, we learned that families strengthen their emotional health by purposefully replacing previously destructive patterns of interaction with predictable, supportive ways of getting along in a process called regenerating family. These findings add to our knowledge of family development and how families promote their health when they have experienced intimate partner violence.
Almost half the children born in the last decade will experience the divorce of their parents, and many of these children will also go through the changes associated with their custodial parent's remarriage. Most children initially experience their parents' marital rearrangements as stressful; however, children's responses to their parents' marital transitions are diverse and are likely to vary with the age of the child and to change over time as family members adjust to their new circumstances. This longitudinal study examined family relationships and adolescents' adjustment during the transition to remarriage. Three groups of families were studied: stepfamilies with a divorced custodial mother who was in the first months of a remarriage; families with a divorced custodial mother who had not remarried; and nondivorced families. Families were assessed three times during a 26-month period, and there were approximately equal numbers of early adolescent male and female target children in each family type. Family relationships and children's adjustment were assessed using interview measures obtained from multiple perspectives and from observational measures of family interactions in the home. This Monograph examined differences between the three family groups in children's adjustment, marital relationships, parent-child relationships, and sibling relationships as the children were moving through early adolescence and as stepfamilies were coping with a new remarriage. Authoritative child rearing was associated with positive adjustment in children in all family groups. Children in nondivorced families were more competent and exhibited fewer behavior problems than children in divorced or remarried families. Unlike the findings with younger children, few gender X family-type interactions were obtained, and no adjustment to the remarriage over the 26 months of the study was found in stepfather-stepchild relations or in the adjustment of stepchildren.
Analyses addressing 2 sets of hypotheses were examined. First, it was hypothesized that the number of parenting transitions would define a continuum that would covary with the magnitude of the adjustment problems experienced by boys in the family. Intact, single-mother, stepfather, and multiple-transition families were selected from 206 predominantly lower- and working-class families in the Oregon Youth Study and compared on a comprehensive measure of boys' adjustment at Grade 4. Boys who had experienced multiple transitions showed the poorest adjustment. This relationship was still significant after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES) and per capita income. In the 2nd set of analyses, the hypothesis that maternal antisocial behavior (MAB) contributes directly to relationship transitions and indirectly to child adjustment problems was tested in a structural equation model. A mediational model including MAB and parenting practices was used to predict child adjustment measured 2 yrs later. Number of transitions was highly related to MAB. The antisocial mother was most at risk for transitions and unskilled parenting practices, which in turn placed her son at risk for poor adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The aim of this study was to operationalize the structure of family relationships and examine how women's reconstructions of various family patterns during childhood and adulthood relate to their levels of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Using a sample of 93 women, ages 19 to 22, two family patterns emerged: (a) father-daughter alliance (FDA), whereby fathers seek intimacy and affection from their daughters instead of their wives and have emotionally distant marriages; and (b) mother-daughter triangulation (MDT), characterized by conflicted marriages whereby daughters are caught between their battling parents and mothers seek intimacy from their daughters instead of their husbands. Regression estimates suggest that childhood FDA significantly contributes to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem even after controlling for the effects of childhood physical abuse and current FDA. Current MDT contributes to anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Although the concept of well-functioning, cross-generational boundaries is central to family systems theory, and clinical observations clearly point to the dysfunctional nature of families in which boundary violation/enmeshment behavior occurs, empirical investigation of this phenomenon is limited, especially in nonclinical samples. The present study reports a method of identifying boundary-violation behavior in nonrisk families rearing 4-year-olds and investigates the family antecedents and correlates of this behavior during infancy. As part of a longitudinal follow-up of families rearing firstborns initially studied in their first year of life, 82 families were seen in a 1-hour videotaped laboratory session when children were 4 years of age. This session included a procedure designed to elicit boundary violation behavior, operationalized through a separation decision-making paradigm. Fifteen families were classified as boundary violators using this procedure. During a family art project later in the laboratory session, husbands and wives in the boundary violation group were more likely to be overcontrolling and intrusive with each other and to undermine each other’s parenting efforts. Exploration of the longitudinal data set revealed that these families were distinguished by early and extensive maternal employment coupled with low work/family support, declining marital positivity during the first year of the child’s life, and greater likelihood of insecure child-mother attachment at 1 and 3 years. Findings are discussed in terms of the emergent nature of dysfunctional patterns of behavior.
It has long been one of the grand ideas in psychology that people internalize their relationships with significant others, which influences their experience of subsequent relationships and their sense of self. Recent work in social cognition has largely neglected the impact of internally represented interpersonal information, however, with researchers choosing instead to focus on the perception of self and other persons in isolation. After a review of relevant theoretical models, it is proposed that research could profitably examine people's
relational schemas, defined as cognitive structures representing regularities in patterns of interpersonal relatedness. The elements of a relational schema include an interpersonal script for the interaction pattern, a self-schema for how self is experienced in that interpersonal situation, and a schema for the other person in the interaction. Research strategies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study investigated the relationship between parental perceptions of coping strategies and family strengths in families of young children with disabilities. The 69 participants completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire and the Family Hardiness Index. Results indicated that the use of social supports was highly associated with family strengths. In contrast, wishful thinking, self-blame, distancing, and self-control were negatively related to family strengths. Implications for practice are discussed.
Family Structure in Context Theoretical Perspectives Linking Family Structure, Family Relations, and Well-Being Research Design and Profile of American Families Marital, Postmarital, and Nonmarital Relations Parent-Child Relations Family Structure and Mothers' Well-Being Family Structure and Children's Well-Being Beyond Family Structure
Foreword Arlene Vetere 1. Structural Family Therapy 2. A Family in Formation 3. A Family Model 4. A Kibbutz Family 5. Therapeutic Implications of a Structural Approach 6. The Family in Therapy 7. Forming the Therapeutic System 8. Restructuring the Family 9. A "Yes, But" Technique 10. A "Yes, And" Technique 11. The Initial Interview 12. A Longitudinal View Epilog
L'A. propose une extension de la meta-analyse de Keith et Amato sur l'adaptation de l'enfant a la situation generee par le divorce et presente de nouvelles perspectives exploratoires concernant ce champ d'etude.
Despite the fact that the number of noncustodial mothers is increasing, very little is known about the experience of these women. This study sought to gain a greater understanding of this growing number of women by examining issues surrounding the decision to relinquish custody and exploring their postdivorce relationships with their former spouses and children. Qualitative and quantitative interview data collected from 13 noncustodial mothers granted divorces in southwestern Virginia between 1986 and 1990 were analyzed. Based on the results of the study, suggestions for intervention are discussed.
Using qualitative interview data from a study of 60 single-parent mothers and 11 single-parent fathers, this paper examines family problems and strengths identified by these parents. With the exception of family finances and ex-spouses, mothers and fathers seemed to have very similar experiences. About two thirds of single parents reported that single parenting became easier over time. Implications for practice and policy are addressed.
For the adolescent undergoing multiple developmental changes, divorce and its related transitions present additional challenges, promoting growth for some and constituting developmental vulnerabilities for others. A review of the literature on adolescent development, family relationships, and the impact of divorce on adolescents reveals that adolescents experience divorce differently than younger children and that a positive parent-adolescent relationship can ameliorate the negative effects of divorce. Major gaps in the literature, particularly in the areas of differential effects for ethnic and minority youth and families and the effect of diverse family configurations on development, are identified. Specific suggestions for further research are proposed.
A theoretical framework is developed to explain how parent/adult child relationships affect adult children's and parents' psychological distress levels. Data from a 1986 national survey (n = 3,618) are analyzed to test hypotheses derived from this framework. Results show that (a) the quality of intergenerational relationships appears to be influenced by the structural circumstances of parents and adult children—especially as defined by divorced status, gender, and age; (b) the negative aspects of intergenerational relationships are more strongly associated with psychological distress of parents and adult children than are the positive aspects; and (c) the estimated effects of intergenerational relationships on distress levels sometimes depend on the structural circumstances of parents and children.
Although scientific knowledge of youth development has grown dramatically over the last 2 decades, theoretical frameworks for translating research into more supportive environments for youth have lagged. This article proposes a risk/protective theoretical perspective grounded in ecological and developmental contextualist theories. Principles extrapolated from the theory are illustrated with the success of Wisconsin Youth Futures, a campus/community partnership that has built 18 community coalitions to promote positive youth development and prevent problem behaviors.
This study addresses the topic of mother and father involvement during childhood and adolescence as it influences the well-being of sons and daughters. Longitudinal data drawn from the National Survey of Children (n = 762) are analyzed using regression techniques. Children's perceptions of maternal and paternal behavioral and emotional involvement are found to be equally important for the well-being of girls and boys. The results suggest that childhood and ongoing relationships with parents are more telling for the well-being of adolescents than is father presence during childhood.
This study examines the effects of marital disruption on children's behavior, accounting for variations in postdisruption living arrangements and the effects of parent-child relationships and marital conflict. The study is based on a 1981 national sample of 1,400 children aged 12-16. Disruption was associated with a higher incidence of several behavior problems, negative effects being greatest with multiple marital transitions. The negative effects are lower if the child lives with the same-sex parent following divorce or maintains a good relationship with one or both parents. High, persistent conflict in intact families is also related to behavior problems.
McLanahan, Sara, and Sandefur, Gary. (1994). Growing Up With a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 196 pp. Hardcover ISBN 0-674-36407-4, price $19.95. Integrating their insights from more than a decade of research on single-parent families, McLanahan and Sandefur rekindle the debate concerning the consequences for children growing up in households where only one biological parent is present. Their news is not good. Based on extensive analyses of four national data sets, the authors conclude that the disadvantages for children living with single parents are substantial, they occur across several important life domains, and they persist long into adulthood. The authors fmd that regardless of parents' race or educational background, children spending some part of their childhood in a single-parent household earn lower grades in school and are less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to attend or graduate from college, and more likely to be unemployed during late adolescence and early adulthood. Young women from single-parent households are more likely to bear children outside of marriage. This research is made more significant by the fact that most studies have examined children's short-term adjustment to divorce and other single-parent arrangements, and very few have examined long-term effects. Attempting to establish linkages between childhood family structure and later success, the authors systematically explore the potential mediating influence of parenting practices, socioeconomic differences, and community involvement across family types. They document that, according to high school sophomores, divorced parents provide less supervision and less help with homework than married parents and that children from single-parent households are more likely than other children to be poor, to live in poor neighborhoods, to attend poorly funded schools with high dropout rates, and to have peers who do not value education. Importantly, when predivorce and postdivorce income are controlled in analyses of high school dropout risk and other outcomes, the differences between adolescents who experience parental divorce and those who do not diminish to 3 to 4 percentage points. Readers should be aware that the authors value the "standard package"the heterosexual, conjugal, nuclear, domestic unit headed by a male breadwinner and female caretaker. Most of these families are assumed to be happy and functional and when adverse circumstances arise, they should stay together because "the child would probably be better off" (p. 31). The authors argue that in single-mother families, "parental affection and warmth is . …
This study used national longitudinal data to examine parent-child relationships before and after parental divorce. Parents' reports of problems in their relationships with children were significantly elevated as early as 8 to 12 years prior to divorce. Low quality in the parents' marriage largely accounted for these associations. Early problems in the parent-child relationship and low quality in the parents' marriage when children were 10 years old (on average) predicted low parental affection for children when they were 18 years old (on average). Divorce further eroded affection between fathers and children, but not between mothers and children. These findings suggest that the quality of the parents' marriage has both direct and indirect long-term consequences for parent-child affection.
The implications of childhood family disruption for parent-adult child relations are explored in a sample of 4,516 young adults. Among young adults raised in single-parent families, relationships with custodial mothers and custodial fathers remained quite positive into early adulthood. Becoming the noncustodial parent resulted in severe deterioration of the father-child relationship. Noncustodial mothers, in contrast, enjoyed relations with adult children that were nearly as good as those of custodial mothers. The impact of remarriage of the custodial parent differed greatly for noncustodial mothers and non-custodial fathers. In custodial father families, the father's remarriage sharply reduced the quality of adult children's relations with nonresidential biological mothers. In custodial mother families, in contrast, mother's remarriage had only a slight negative influence on adult children's relations with nonresidential biological fathers. Issues of timing of family structure transitions and degree of family instability are also examined.
This study explored the effects of parental support on adolescents' life satisfaction. From a sample of adolescents aged between 12 and 16 (n = 640), drawn from the National Survey of Children, three facets of parental support-intrinsic, extrinsic, and closeness-were identified, and their effects on child satisfaction were examined by using LISREL analyses. Structural equation models were specified for each parent-child dyad. Intrinsic support emerged as the strongest predictor of life satisfaction in all four models. Comparison of the four models showed no differences based on gender of child or parent; intrinsic support for both mothers and fathers was equally important in predicting life satisfaction of adolescent offspring.
Self-report data from 212 divorced mothers was analyzed to test a path model of father involvement postdivorce and parenting stress. Using multiple regression analysis, findings indicated that mothers report higher levels of father involvement postdivorce when they had supportive coparental relationships with their former spouses, lived nearby their children's father, and had higher incomes and child support. Higher levels of interparental conflict were also associated with greater involvement on the part of fathers. Fathers' involvement was not significantly related to mothers' parenting stress. Child characteristics and socio-economic factors appeared most predictive of mothers' reports of their parenting stress. Possible explanations for these finding, as well as policy implications, are discussed.
look at methodological features of qualitative data analysis (QDA) to consider how, and how much, and how well, it can be computerized / give an overview of general-purpose packages that can be used in QDA, and some types of special-purpose QDA packages / discuss how they can be used and how well they work / provide some pointers to future software developments / stimulate methodological debate on computational QDA
[start] from the research processes involved in relating data and theory in QDA and the different ways [computer] software might support or distort them / describe and critique a series of types of software [multiple text management uses, building conceptual models, sorting categories, attaching key words and codes to text segments, isolating negative or deviant cases, and creating indices] in terms of purposes and design, examining the implications of the method supported by each (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This handbook provides a comprehensive discussion of several key dimensions where families differ: race, socioeconomic status, family structure, sexual orientation, and gender. It is designed to inform and broaden the debate among students, family scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as to what constitutes a family and how families should function. Featuring commissioned chapters by scholars from a variety of fields, the book discusses different types of families from widely varying social and economic backgrounds, addresses important public policy issues pertaining to family diversity, and describes the everyday realities of family interactions—the tensions and dynamics of intimacy, support, control, communication, and conflict. Multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives are presented throughout the volume, providing evidence that there is no unified or monolithic perspective on families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examines the accounts of 80 divorced single mothers in order to consider various emotional processes involved in the mothers' postdivorce family reorganization. A qualitative analysis was conducted on written responses to an open-ended question. Concerns tended to center around how the divorce had affected the children as well as various difficulties associated with single parenting. Loss and guilt on the part of many mothers was tempered by positive attributions about how divorce actually gave way to greater personal happiness, better parent-child relationships, and more rewarding lives. Focusing on the benefits of divorce appeared to be an important means of coping with many of the problems inherent in single parenting. Implications for treatment are discussed from an ecological perspective which emphasizes the therapist's role in helping mothers to create contexts of support.
The majority of measures that assess the parent-child relationship are based on overt parental behavior. Given that a substantial percentage of youth do not have contact with their father, these measures often lead to missing data due to paternal absence. We describe a series of four studies that led to the development of the Perceptions of Parents (POP) measure, which can be completed by younger and older adolescents even if they do not have contact with their mother or their father. The measure was found to be sound psychometrically. Two factors, positive affect and negative affect, emerged for adolescents' perceptions of their mother and father. Scores on these factors were meaningfully related to adolescents' psychological adjustment. We discuss connections between adolescents' perceptions of their parents and therapeutic interventions for adolescents who are psychologically distressed.
Bibliography: p. [319]-322
Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1996. Vita. Abstract. Bibliography: leaves 99-102.
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.
This article presents the results of a longitudinal study of the effects of divorce and remarriage on children's adjustment. It was found that individual characteristics, such as children's temperament, family relations, and extrafamilial factors, played an important role in exacerbating or buffering children from negative consequences associated with their parents' marital transitions. Although boys in divorced families and children in remarried families showed more problems in adjustment than did children in nondivorced families, some also showed remarkable resiliency in the face of multiple life stressors.
Little is known about children's perceptions of their parents' divorce or how children construct meaning around the divorce and their subsequent relationships with their parents. The focus of this study was to learn about the experiences and the meanings young adults had constructed about the divorce process and their relationships with their fathers in the years after the divorce. The findings revealed a broad spectrum of experiences and several key issues that gave meaning to both the disengagement and the reengagement with their fathers. Loss, trust, acceptance, availability, and support are a few of the vital issues addressed. Implications for family therapists are discussed.
When the bough breaks: The cost of neglecting our children
- S A Hewlitt
Hewlitt, S. A. ( 1 991). When the bough breaks: The cost of neglecting our children.
Basic.
Renegotiating family relationships: Divorce, child custody, and mediation
- R E Emery
Emery, R. E. (1994). Renegotiating family relationships: Divorce, child custody,
and mediation. New York: The Guilford Press.