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Book part
Publication date: 25 February 2021

Kelsey N. Mattingly

Purpose: This study examines how parental divorce impacts the social support network dynamics of adult children. Research has explored long-term consequences of divorce and the…

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines how parental divorce impacts the social support network dynamics of adult children. Research has explored long-term consequences of divorce and the impact of biographical disruption on network dynamics. Despite the long-term impact of parental divorce on social networks, these literatures have not been integrated.

Design/methodology/approach: Using survey data from 21- to 30 and 50- to 70-year-old adults in the San Francisco Bay area through the University of California Social Networks Study, or UCNets, the author explores hypotheses related to biographical disruption and characteristics of social support networks.

Findings: The impact of parental divorce is varied. Parental divorce is unrelated to total number of network ties but is significantly related to number of confidant network ties and marginally related to practical help network ties. Parental divorce is associated with higher overlap across network dimensions, or multiplexity, but this association is stronger for younger compared to older adults.

Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to compositional network dynamics. Future research should explore the impact of parental divorce on clusters of social support and their relationship to network multiplexity in addition to constrained versus preferential multiplexity. These findings are limited to perception of social support in networks, as questions vary by recall period and behavior.

Originality/value: This chapter extends research on long-term consequences of parental divorce and extends biographical disruption models in social networks to processes in family structure, highlighting how age effects shape how parental divorce impacts support strategies, perceptions, and experience at the network level in early compared to later adulthood.

Details

Aging and the Family: Understanding Changes in Structural and Relationship Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-491-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 September 2016

Mick Cunningham and JaneLee Waldock

A small number of studies have suggested that parental divorce may manifest during adulthood as low-level emotional distress characterized by painful feelings such as sadness or…

Abstract

Purpose

A small number of studies have suggested that parental divorce may manifest during adulthood as low-level emotional distress characterized by painful feelings such as sadness or self-blame. In light of the paucity of existing research on distress, the current study was designed to assess the presence of distress among a sample of young adults with divorced parents and to ascertain whether painful feelings accurately describe the primary ongoing consequences of parental divorce.

Methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with a sample of university students were conducted to investigate the concept of distress after parental divorce. Interview guides were designed to elicit responses about ways that parental divorce continues to influence the lives of young adults.

Findings

The study identified a set of ongoing stressors that do not overlap substantially with previous measures of post-divorce distress and that are often rooted in logistical difficulties. Three specific sources of distress are discussed: family coordination difficulties, struggles balancing the politics of parental expectations about time with their children, and perceptions of family fragmentation. These sources of distress frequently originate in the physical separation of parents’ households. Interviewees reported spending extra time and energy arranging family visits. Their choices about visiting parents frequently led to both feelings of guilt about the allocation of family time and a reduced sense of family cohesion. Ongoing logistical difficulties were much more commonly cited by young adults than painful feelings.

Originality/value

This qualitative investigation of distress suggests a significant re-orientation toward our understanding of the consequences of parental divorce is needed.

Details

Divorce, Separation, and Remarriage: The Transformation of Family
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-229-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 September 2015

Suleman Ibrahim

In terms of the concept of broken home as a juvenile delinquency risk factor, whilst Nigeria and Ghana are culturally different from western nations (Gyekye, 1996; Hofstede, 1980;…

Abstract

Purpose

In terms of the concept of broken home as a juvenile delinquency risk factor, whilst Nigeria and Ghana are culturally different from western nations (Gyekye, 1996; Hofstede, 1980; Smith, 2004), parental death (PDE) and parental divorce (PDI) have been previously taken-for-granted as one factor, that is ‘broken home’. This paper aims to deconstruct the singular model of ‘broken home’ and propose a binary model – the parental death and parental divorce hypotheses, with unique variables inherent in Nigerian/Ghanaian context.

Methodology/approach

It principally deploys the application of Goffman’s (1967) theory of stigma, anthropological insights on burial rites and other social facts (Gyekye, 1996; Mazzucato et al., 2006; Smith, 2004) to tease out diversity and complexity of lives across cultures, which specifically represent a binary model of broken home in Nigeria/Ghana. It slightly appraises post-colonial insights on decolonization (Agozino, 2003; Said, 1994) to interrogate both marginalized and mainstream literature.

Findings

Thus far, analyses have challenged the homogenization of the concept broken home in existing literature. Qualitatively unlike in the ‘West’, analyses have identified the varying meanings/consequences of parental divorce and parental death in Nigeria/Ghana.

Originality/value

Unlike existing data, this paper has contrasted the differential impacts of parental death and parental divorce with more refined variables (e.g. the sociocultural penalties of divorce such as stigma in terms of parental divorce and other social facts such as burial ceremonies, kinship nurturing, in relation to parental death), which helped to fill in the missing gap in comparative criminology literature.

Details

Violence and Crime in the Family: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-262-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 September 2016

Kayla Reed, Trent S. Parker, Mallory Lucier-Greer and Marsha L. Rehm

This study examined how parental divorce during emerging adulthood gives meaning to emerging adults’ developmental stage and interpersonal relationships.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined how parental divorce during emerging adulthood gives meaning to emerging adults’ developmental stage and interpersonal relationships.

Methodology/approach

The participant sample consisted of 15 females from the Southeastern United States who were between the ages of 18 and 25 (M = 21.5). Qualitative methods were utilized, with a transcendental phenomenological research methodology specifically applied. Interviews were conducted focusing on perceptions of the divorce experience in relation to important aspects of emerging adulthood, namely developmental experiences and interpersonal relationships, primarily intimate partner and dating experiences. NVivo was used to allow a “bottom-up” design, emergent design, and interpretive inquiry for data analysis.

Findings

Two major themes emerged from the data: (1) developmental stage facilitates insight into the divorce process and (2) parental divorce leads to contemplating and reconceptualizing perceptions of self and interpersonal relationships.

Research limitations/implications

Results are relevant to researchers, parents, and practitioners as divorce is examined with a developmental lens. Findings suggest that the meaning and impact of parental divorce are distinct for emerging adult children, characterized by awareness and personal reflection. Implications for parenting and practice are provided.

Details

Divorce, Separation, and Remarriage: The Transformation of Family
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-229-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 September 2016

Christina L. Scott, Joanne M. Hash, Phoebe Stevens and Tiffani Tejada

To investigate how parental divorce and gender might influence the likelihood of engaging in a friends with benefits relationship (FWBR), and the likelihood of binge drinking and…

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate how parental divorce and gender might influence the likelihood of engaging in a friends with benefits relationship (FWBR), and the likelihood of binge drinking and unprotected sex practices.

Methodology/approach

Using self-report measures, 99 undergraduates shared their parental marital history, experiences with FWBRs, and health risk behaviors.

Findings

Men, as compared with women, reported significantly more FWBRs as did participants with divorced/separated parents, as compared with those with married parents. Participants who had engaged in an FWBR reported significantly more binge drinking than those with no prior FWBR experience; however, no differences were found for gender or parental marital status. No significant differences emerged regarding the prevalence of unprotected sex.

Research limitations/implications

The current study employed the use of self-report surveys, which can be subject to social desirability. All participants were recruited from a single liberal arts college with a limited sample of men with divorced or separated parents.

Originality/value

Using mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) to explore young adults’ predictors and outcomes of engaging in FWBRs provided unique insights into how gender and parental relationships influence both casual sex and health-related behaviors.

Details

Divorce, Separation, and Remarriage: The Transformation of Family
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-229-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 August 2006

Jaap Dronkers and Joop Hox

This study examines the effects of a family's and individual children's characteristics on the probability of having a divorce. Current research shows a clear indication of…

Abstract

This study examines the effects of a family's and individual children's characteristics on the probability of having a divorce. Current research shows a clear indication of increased divorce risks if an individual's parents or siblings have experienced a divorce. Explanations include both shared family characteristics (including genetic effects) and common characteristics of the individual children involved. This study analyzes the effects of shared family background characteristics on the divorce risk of individuals. By analyzing siblings within families and including individual children's characteristics in the analysis, it is possible to separate individual-level and family-level effects.

In addition to employing a multi-level structure of individual siblings nested within families, the data cited here are censored. For all individuals, the length of the marriage and the divorce status are known, but the divorce status is interpreted differently for individuals who have or have not experienced divorce. For divorced individuals, the final divorce status is known; for individuals who have not experienced divorce, the final marriage status is unknown or censored. The proper analysis model for such data is event history (also called survival) analysis. This study therefore employs a multi-level event history model.

Our results show that there is a similarity in the divorce risks of siblings from the same family, which is not explained away by the available child and family characteristics. This finding suggests that shared genetic and social heritage play an important role in the intergenerational transmission of divorce risks.

Details

Multi-Level Issues in Social Systems
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-432-4

Book part
Publication date: 29 September 2016

Michael R. Langlais, Edward R. Anderson and Shannon M. Greene

The goal of this chapter is to examine (1) how children’s rapport with dating partners predicts mothers’ dating stability; (2) how characteristics of dating partners are…

Abstract

Purpose

The goal of this chapter is to examine (1) how children’s rapport with dating partners predicts mothers’ dating stability; (2) how characteristics of dating partners are associated with children’s problem behaviors; and (3) how mothers’ lingering attachment to the former spouse predicts relationship quality of dating relationships.

Methodology/approach

Data comes from a multimethod, multi-informant longitudinal study of postdivorce dating relationships (N = 319 mothers, n = 178 children, n = 153 dating partners). Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to test consequences of breakup of mothers’ dating relationships for children’s behaviors, children’s rapport with dating partners for mothers’ dating relationship stability, and mothers’ lingering attachment for quality of dating relationships.

Findings

We found that children’s rapport with dating partners was positively associated with dating breakup; more antisocial traits and drunkenness of mothers’ dating partners was positively associated with children’s problem behaviors at breakup; and lingering attachment was positively associated with poorer relationship quality with dating partners.

Research limitations/implications

Because the focus of this chapter is divorced mothers with children, future studies are recommended to examine fathers’ postdivorce dating relationships. Future research should delineate dating, cohabiting, and remarried relationships after divorce.

Originality/value

This chapter presents empirical data examining the influence children have on mothers’ dating relationships, the influence of mothers’ dating relationships on children’s behaviors, and the effects of mothers’ lingering attachment to the former spouse on quality of mothers’ dating relationships. Information from this research is crucial for researchers and practitioners to assist mother’s and children’s postdivorce adjustment.

Details

Divorce, Separation, and Remarriage: The Transformation of Family
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-229-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 November 2019

Christina L. Scott, Siri Wilder and Justine Bennett

Purpose – Despite the rising number of unmarried and/or divorced parents, negative stereotypes of single parents are still prevalent. The current study aims to explore attitudes…

Abstract

Purpose – Despite the rising number of unmarried and/or divorced parents, negative stereotypes of single parents are still prevalent. The current study aims to explore attitudes toward single mothers (choice vs circumstance) and personal willingness to become single parents in the future.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The current study used a 10-item Likert scale inventory to assess 230 female respondents’ attitudes toward fictitious single mothers; five open-ended questions explored advantages/challenges faced by each mother, and a single-item Likert scale assessed willingness to become a single mother by choice.

Findings – Although young adults (18–25 years) reported more positivity toward single mothers compared to adults (26–79 years), both groups were unwilling to become single mothers by choice. Qualitative findings suggested participants identified more advantages associated with being a single mother by choice (as compared to by circumstance).

Research Limitations/Implications – The majority of the sample consisted of “young adults” (undergraduates) ages 18–25, while the “adult” sample combined multiple generations ages 26–79, resulting in an unbalanced age distribution between groups.

Originality/Value – Few studies have acknowledged the existence of single mothers by choice; the current research provided supporting evidence that attitudes toward single mothers are increasingly more positive among Millennials despite unwillingness to become a single mother by choice in the future.

Details

Childbearing and the Changing Nature of Parenthood: The Contexts, Actors, and Experiences of Having Children
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-067-2

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 25 February 2021

Abstract

Details

Aging and the Family: Understanding Changes in Structural and Relationship Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-491-5

Book part
Publication date: 17 December 2003

Harry G Segal

In this volume, researchers have brought their expertise to bear on the ambivalence enacted and expressed by adult children and their parents towards each other. As Lüscher and…

Abstract

In this volume, researchers have brought their expertise to bear on the ambivalence enacted and expressed by adult children and their parents towards each other. As Lüscher and Pillemer note in their seminal article (1998), using ambivalence as an organizing concept for the study of intergenerational relationships allows researchers to explore the inherent contradiction of roles and obligations. For example, at what point does a child become an adult child? Is this a judgment that both parent and child make? What happens when parent and child disagree? Even raising the question misses the point: One can never unidimensionally be an “adult child.” In the subtle and dynamic consciousness within which each of us dwells, we are always an adult and a child to ourselves and to our parents, as they were to theirs.

Details

Intergenerational Ambivalences: New Perspectives on Parent-Child Relations in Later Life
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76230-801-9

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