A Prospective Study of Divorce and Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

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. Key Words: divorce, longitudinal studies, marital quality, parent-child relationships. Parent-child relationships after divorce are often problematic. The quantity and quality of contact between children and noncustodial parents-usually fathers-tend to decrease with time (Furstenberg & Nord, 1985; Seltzer, 1991). Relations between children and custodial parents-usually mothers-also frequently show signs of tension. For example, Hetherington, Cox, and Cox (1982) found that 1 year after divorce, custodial mothers were less affectionate toward their children, communicated with them less often, punished them more harshly, and were more inconsistent in their use of discipline than continuously married mothers. Although relations between custodial mothers and offspring often improve with time, they also may show new strains when children reach adolescence or if custodial mothers remarry (Hetherington & Clingempeel,1992). Recent research indicates that reaching adulthood does not ameliorate strained relations between offspring and parents. Adult children of divorced parents feel less affection for their parents, have less contact with them, and engage in fewer intergenerational exchanges of assistance than do other adults (Amato & Booth, 1991; Booth & Amato, 1994; Cooney & Uhlenberg, 1990; Cooney, Hutchinson, & Leather, 1995; White, 1992, 1994). These relationship deficits are stronger for noncustodial parents than for custodial parents, regardless of the parents' gender (Amato & Booth,1991; Aquilino,1994). However, because mothers usually retain custody of children, relations between adult children and their fathers are especially vulnerable after divorce. In addition, the effects of divorce may be stronger for opposite-sex parent-child dyads than for same-sex dyads (Booth & Amato, 1994). In spite of some variations, these results suggest that problematic parent-child relations associated with divorce persist throughout the life course. A critical issue, however, is whether strained relations between parents and children are due to changes in family structure, predivorce family processes, or both. (Postdivorce family processes may also be relevant, but they are beyond the scope of the present study.) Four prospective longitudinal studies suggest that at least some of the erosion in relationships between parents and their adult children may have its roots in events prior to divorce. Two of these studies directly assessed the quality of parent-child relations prior to parental divorce. Block, Block, and Gjerde (1988) analyzed data from a sample of 101 families that had 3-year-old and 4-year-old children in a nursery school in Berkeley, California. Of these families, 41 experienced divorce over an 11-year period. This study found that, before divorce, fathers who later divorced were less involved with sons and experienced more conflict with sons than fathers who remained married. No differences were found in father-daughter relationships. Similarly, before divorce, mothers who later divorced were more strict and tenser with sons, experienced more conflict with sons, and were more likely to use physical punishment with daughters than were mothers who remained married. …