Adolescent's Adjustment in Four Post-Divorce Family Structures

Abstract

Using a theoretically guided contrast analysis approach (see Furr & Rosenthal, 2003; Rosnow & Rosenthal, 2002) and data from a relatively large community sample (2550 students in grades 7-9), different sets of hypotheses dealing with adolescents' adjustment in four post-divorce family structures were tested. Most of the hypotheses matched with the data. Adolescents from single mother and stepfather families were at a moderately increased risk of displaying various adjustment problems as compared with adolescents from non-divorced two-parent families. The risk level of youth from single father and joint physical custody families each differed in their own ways from the risks of adolescents from the two first-mentioned family structures. Adolescents from single father families reported an alarmingly high amount of antisocial behavior and substance use, while their counterparts from families with joint physical custody were at no higher risk of displaying adjustment problems than their peers from non-divorced families except in the area of school achievement. However, some hypotheses did not match well with the present data. Compared with their counterparts from non-divorced families, adolescents from single father families did not seem to be at increased risk of internalizing problems (depression/ negative self-evaluations). In addition, relatively fewer adolescents from families with stepfathers reported being drunk than expected, while the opposite was true of their peers from joint physical custody families with regard to illegal drugs. Alternative interpretations of the findings were discussed.