The Relationship between Divorced Mothers' Perceived Control over Child Rearing and Children's Post-Divorce Development

Abstract

The present research examines the contribution of divorced mothers' beliefs of control over child rearing to their children's development during the post-divorce period. Fifty-eight divorced, single mothers described their 4year-old children's positive and negative behavior and specific circumstances surrounding child-rearing events. Maternal locus of causality and perceived controllability were assessed. Maternal belief variables were compared with other familial variables (sex of child, time since separation, father-mother harmony, and father-child contact) in predicting children's post-divorce development. Regression analysis indicates that the full model, which included maternal beliefs, accounted for a significant portion of the variance in predicting children's self-esteem and fewer physical and psychological symptoms beyond nonbelief familial variables (restricted model). Implications for practitioners are discussed. Parents' beliefs about child rearing and their impact on children's development have become a prominent theme in contemporary socialization literature (Goodnow, 1988; Miller, 1988). Recent evidence suggests there is a moderating effect of parental social cognitions on parenting behavior (Bugental, Blue, & Lewis, 1990; Phillips, 1990; Sigel, 1986) and children's development (Miller, 1988). Examination of parental beliefs can provide a window to view a cumulative history of interaction between parents and children where parents' beliefs appear to impact developmental processes.