Abstract
Former studies have shown that children and adolescents of divorced parents have significantly poorer educational attainment than their peers from continuously married parents. Educational ambition is important because it has relationship with educational attainment. Our aim was to investigate the associations between parental divorce and educational ambitions among adolescents in the Scandinavian region. Data were used from Young-HUBRO surveys that were conducted in Oslo in the years 2000/2001 and 2004. A change in educational ambition was investigated in a prospective study (n = 1,861) by comparing 18/19 year-olds who experienced late parental divorce with adolescents of continuously married parents. 18/19 year-old adolescents who experienced parental divorce during childhood or adolescence were compared in a cross-sectional study (n = 2,391) with their peers from continuously married parents. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to include, among others, mental health problem as a potential confounder. The prospective study showed that a change from ambition for university/college education to having undecided educational ambition was significantly higher among adolescents with experience of late parental divorce than among adolescents of continuously married parents (OR 1.8; 95 % CI 1.1–3.0). In the cross-sectional study, adolescents who experienced parental divorce during childhood or adolescence were more likely to have undecided educational ambition, compared to their peers from continuously married parents (OR 1.3; 95 % CI 1.1–1.8). In conclusion, experience of parental divorce seems to be associated with undecided educational ambition among 18/19 year-old adolescents. Mechanisms that reduce the adverse influence of parental divorce on educational ambitions need to be in place.
Highlights
Findings about the consequences of parental divorce on social, psychological, and health problems in children and adolescents have not been consistent (Amato and Keith 1991; Biblarz and Gottainer 2000; Breivik and Olweus 2006; Bjørklund et al 2007; Hemminki and Chen 2006; Steele et al 2009; Zeratsion et al 2013)
A change in educational ambition was investigated in a prospective study (n = 1,861) by comparing 18/19 year-olds who experienced late parental divorce with adolescents of continuously married parents. 18/19 year-old adolescents who experienced parental divorce during childhood or adolescence were compared in a cross-sectional study (n = 2,391) with their peers from continuously married parents
The prospective study showed that a change from ambition for university/college education to having undecided educational ambition was significantly higher among adolescents with experience of late parental divorce than among adolescents of continuously married parents
Summary
Findings about the consequences of parental divorce on social, psychological, and health problems in children and adolescents have not been consistent (Amato and Keith 1991; Biblarz and Gottainer 2000; Breivik and Olweus 2006; Bjørklund et al 2007; Hemminki and Chen 2006; Steele et al 2009; Zeratsion et al 2013). Contradictory findings were reported about associations between family structure and educational ambitions (Garg et al 2002, 2007). J Child Fam Stud (2015) 24:2865–2873 families had lower educational ambitions than those from two-parent families. Such a difference in ambitions may depend on individual, family and social factors. These factors have been discussed from theoretical perspectives (Amato 1993; Hetherington 1989). Some children possess attributes that increase their vulnerability to adverse effects, while others have better characteristics that foster their resilience in coping with divorce (Amato and Keith 1991)
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