The Effects of Divorce on Young Adults' Relationship Competence

Abstract

The relationship competence of young adults was investigated to determine if those who experienced family disruption in childhood, namely divorce or conflict, differed on measures of self esteem, fear of intimacy, romantic relationship satisfaction, and beliefs about marriage. The potential moderating effect and contribution of intimate friendships on relationship competence was examined. The study compared youth who had experienced family divorce with those youth who had not. A sample of male (n = 56) and female (n = 128) undergraduates participated in this study. The results indicated that parental divorce did not affect relationship competence, but that the level of perceived family conflict did influence the self esteem, fear of intimacy and romantic relationship satisfaction of young adults. Those who reported more conflict in their childhood families also reported more fear of intimacy, less self esteem and lower romantic relationship satisfaction than those who reported lower conflict in their families. Parental divorce did, however, affect young adults' fear and expectations of divorce more than their intact counterparts. Findings also indicate that intimate friendships contributed to relationship competence, but did not act as a buffer to the negative effects of the family environment. The findings suggest that childhood family environments as well as friendship quality are important predictors in young adults' relationship competence.