The Long‐Term Effects of Parental Divorce in Childhood on Adult Adjustment

Abstract

Relationships between experiencing a parental divorce or separation prior to age 16 and a variety of measures of adult adjustment and psychological functioning are examined using data from two national cross‐sectional surveys conducted nearly 20 years apart. Although few differences between adults from parentally‐divorced and intact family backgrounds persist when controls for contemporary life circumstances and other social background factors were included, two modest trends are still evident. First, although associations between psychological distress and early experience with parental divorce have weakened somewhat over the past two decades, coming from a non‐intact family of origin still has some significance for adult psychological well‐being. Second, men and women from non‐intact families of origin display different patterns of adjustment to and valuation of the major life roles of spouse and parent. Nevertheless, because such relationships are not very powerful, it is concluded that contrary to much of the literature and popular thought, these early experiences have, at most, a modest effect on adult adjustment.