Long-Term Effects of Parental Divorce on Love Relationships: Divorce as Attachment Disruption

Abstract

This study is an exploration of the long-term effects of parental divorce on a person's romantic relationships. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969a) suggests that parental divorce in itself may not cause poor romantic relationships, but rather, growing up with poor parent-child relationships and protracted interparental conflict may be what is most destructive to subsequent romantic relationships. Seventy-eight college students with divorced parents and a control group of 94 students from non-divorced households responded to a questionnaire assessing early experiences with parents and with any other individual besides a biological parent, called a `parent-substitute' who the subjects reported was `like a mother or father to them' while growing up (e.g. a stepparent, grandparent, older sibling, etc.). The questionnaire also assessed the perceived level of interparental conflict between the biological parents, and the subjects' current style of relating in romantic love relationships. A stepwise multiple regression was performed to clarify the effects of early parental relationships, interparental conflict and parent's marital status (divorce or married) using style of relating in romantic relationships as the criterion variable. Students who reported having accepting parents who encouraged their independence were most likely to report feeling secure in their current love relationships. Students who reported growing up with protracted interparental conflict, or rejecting, overprotective parents were most likely to report jealousy and fears of abandonment in their love relationships. Growing up with an accepting parent may increase an individual's resilience to possible negative effects of parental divorce. Additionally, this parent may not necessarily have to be a biological parent. Students from both non-divorced and divorced households who reported growing up with accepting parent-substitutes (e.g. step-parents, grandparents) were also likely to report feeling secure in their romantic love relationships.