Adjustment Among College Students Experiencing Parental Divorce as Young Adults

Prior studies of individuals experiencing parental divorce during childhood and adolescence indicate a pattern of postdivorce maladjustment on academic, social, psychological, emotional, and behavioral measures. The current study extends prior findings by assessing this effect within a young adult population experiencing parental divorce. Specifically, this study examines differences between individuals experiencing parental divorce during young adulthood as compared with individuals from intact families on three developmentally appropriate outcome variables: well-being, intimacy in interpersonal relationships, and academic progress. Also considered is whether three proposed moderator variables account for any additional variance beyond the main effects model. The three moderator variables selected are parent-child attachment, interparental conflict, and gender. A total of 684 college students from four universities in the southeastern region of the United States participated in this study. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the delayed divorce and intact family groups on measures of well-being and intimacy in interpersonal relationships, mean differences were found on a measure of academic progress. Specifically, the delayed divorce group scored higher on scales measuring academic adaptiveness, reading for pleasure, and creative expressions. Mean differences were also found on measures of parent-child attachment and interparental conflict. The delayed divorce group reported significantly higher levels of interparental conflict and more problematic parent-child relationships than the intact group. Additionally, differences between groups were further moderated by interparental conflict and parent-child attachment. Interparental conflict and divorce status were related to academic apathy, mistrust of instructors, and the adaptiveness index. In addition, father-child attachment and divorce status were related to well-being. Mother-child attachment and divorce status were related to academic self-efficacy. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact of parental divorce on college-aged individuals. Although the findings indicate minimal adverse effects on key developmental tasks, family functioning in the delayed divorce group indicated significantly higher levels of interparental conflict as well as more problematic parent-child relationships. Taken together, these findings raise the possibility that although current personal outcomes were minimally influenced by the divorce event, the significant eroding of family functioning may promote future negative outcomes for the delayed divorce group.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Hill, Celeste Harris

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Thoma, Stephen J.

• Divorced parents

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/12644

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/12644