Marital Disruption Research Articles

Cultural and Socioeconomic Influences on Divorce During Modernization: Southeast Asia, 1940s to 1960s

The conventional model of a rising divorce rate during the process of modernization is a staple element of the sociological theory of the family. This generalization is challenged, however, by traditional high‐divorce societies, primarily in Islamic Southeast Asia, which have experienced a decline in divorce with modernization. In this study, based on micro‐level survey data, the authors explore the social roots of marital disruption in Indonesia and Malaysia and in another Southeast Asian society, Thailand, which has not been identified as a high‐divorce society. Comparable survey data from the 1970s (from the World Fertility Survey) allow for an in‐depth analysis of traditional patterns of divorce before the rapid modernization of recent decades. Two major findings emerge from the multivariate analysis. First, there is a common pattern across all three societies of higher levels of divorce among “traditional” women—those who live in rural areas, marry at young ages, and have lower levels of education. Second, the authors find significant sociocultural (ethnic, regional, religious) differentials in divorce within each country that cannot be explained by demographic and socioeconomic composition. They present an interpretation of how moderately high levels of divorce were accommodated in traditional Southeast Asian societies.

The Canadian Psychiatric Association practice profile survey: II. General description of results.

To provide an overview of the results of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) practice profile survey (PPS), a national survey of psychiatrists and psychiatric practice. Mail-in interviews were sent to all Canadian psychiatrists listed in their provincial registers and to all active CPA members (total = 3628). Respondents provided general information about their professional activities for one 24-hour day and detailed information for 1 randomly selected hour. Patient information--including sociodemographics, diagnostic profiles, functioning levels, risk of harm to self or others, and disposition--was elicited for 1 patient seen during the random hour as well as for the most seriously ill patient receiving clinical services that day. Psychiatrists work 10 hours daily on average and take calls for 5 hours. Sixty percent of the overall work time is in the provision of direct patient care, and fee-for-service payments account for 55% of hours worked. Forty percent of the clinical work is provided in a hospital setting, and 34% is in a private office. Agency work accounted for only 6% of clinical hours worked. Relatively few practitioners provide services to children, older, or forensic patients. The average patient seen is female, aged 40 years, unmarried or with a marital disruption, significantly impaired in multiple areas of functioning, and likely to suffer from depression (21%), schizophrenia (14%), an anxiety disorder (13%), or bipolar disorder (12%). Comorbid Axis I and Axis II disorders are common (each over 30%) and fairly high rates of suicidal (15% to 30%) and homicidal (10% to 20%) risk are present. This paper suggests a wide diversity of practice in psychiatry in Canada, with services being provided to a wide range of individuals with many different conditions.

Premarital Sex, Premarital Cohabitation, and the Risk of Subsequent Marital Dissolution Among Women

Using nationally representative data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, I estimate the association between intimate premarital relationships (premarital sex and premarital cohabitation) and subsequent marital dissolution. I extend previous research by considering relationship histories pertaining to both premarital sex and premarital cohabitation. I find that premarital sex or premarital cohabitation that is limited to a woman's husband is not associated with an elevated risk of marital disruption. However, women who have more than one intimate premarital relationship have an increased risk of marital dissolution. These results suggest that neither premarital sex nor premarital cohabitation by itself indicate either preexisting characteristics or subsequent relationship environments that weaken marriages. Indeed, the findings are consistent with the notion that premarital sex and cohabitation limited to one's future spouse has become part of the normal courtship process for marriage.

Racial Variation in the Effects of Sons versus Daughters on the Disruption of the First Marriage

This research investigates whether there is racial variation in how the gender composition of the sibling group impacts the probability of divorce among couples in their first marriage. For African American families, the effect of children's sex is mediated by socioeco-nomic status. However, with regard to whites, the number of sons heightens the probability of divorce, while daughters have no effect on the marital union. Other sibling group characteristics are pivotal to predicting the likelihood of divorce regardless of race. The presence of preschool children in the home is negatively related to divorce, and the age range of the sibling group is inversely associated with marital disruption.

Union Disruption in Norway

:In this article, we estimate determinants of marital instabilities. Our data set is drawn from the Norwegian KIRUT database, which provides detailed personal information, including marital status, age, income, and education (also for spouses), number and age of children, and labor market and social security status (extent of employment, receipt of social security benefits, etc.). Our sample of approximately 2,900 couples were married by 1989 and observed through 1994 with the purpose of registering changes in marital status. In separate steps, we estimate the spouses’ earnings capacity and probability of achieving child custody. These variables in tum enter as predictors in the divorce equation. We find that marital stability increases with the number of children, but decreases as the children get older. Furthermore, the traditional family structure in which the husband specializes in the labor market and the wife in domestic production appears to have a stabilizing effect on marriages. Finally, the custodial arrangement affects marital stability in that a high probability of custody to the wife is associated with a high probability of marital disruption.

Does remarriage expand perceptions of kinship support among the elderly?

This study addresses the debate over whether higher-order marriages will help offset the expected loss of social support from kin due to divorce for future generations of the elderly. We use data from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH1, 1987–1988) to examine the effects of marriage, marital disruption, and remarriage on perceptions of overall support and support from kin. To measure perceptions of overall support, we look at whether respondents say that they have someone to: (1) turn to in an emergency, (2) borrow money from, and (3) talk to when they are depressed. To measure perceived support from kin, we look at whether respondents name kin as a source of support. We find that marriage and remarriage increase perceptions of support from kin, whereas divorce reduces perceptions of support. We also find that men benefit more from marriage and lose more from divorce than women. Taken together our findings suggest growing inequality in social support among the future elderly population.

Impact of stress of marital dissolution on skin barrier recovery: tape stripping and measurement of trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL).

Psychological stress of marital disruption is associated with significant increases in a variety of psychological and physical disorders. The effect of stress on the immune system is well documented and skin disorders have been reported to exacerbate during stressful situations. This study was designed to observe the effects of stress on skin barrier strength and recovery. Twenty-eight healthy females age 21-45 who were in the process of marital separation were tested for skin barrier strength and recovery. The panel was chosen on the basis of the intensity of self perceived stress. The control group was an age-matched group of self perceived 'happy' subjects. Servomed evaporimeter was used to measure trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) from cheek area of the face, before and after removing stratum corneum layers with tape strippings. Skin barrier strength was defined as the number of tape strippings required to disrupt skin barrier, which is a TEWL of 18 g/m2/h or more. Barrier recovery was denoted by the level of TEWL, 3 h and 24 h after barrier disruption. There was no correlation between the degree of stress and barrier strength. However, individuals with high stress recovered slower than the individuals with low stress after 3 h (R = 0.64) and 24 h (R = 0.74). Psychological stress of marital dissolution does not appear to change skin barrier strength but has a negative impact on skin barrier recovery.

Union Disruption in the United States

:This article presents the results of a longitudinal analysis of a large, nationally representative U.S. dataset. Based on the theoretical considerations outlined, it examines how a range of social and demographic factors are associated with marital disruption, that is, divorce or separation.

Parental separation and divorce: can we provide an ounce of prevention?

This month’s American Academy of Pediatrics clinical report on “Helping Children and Families Deal with Divorce and Separation” highlights the continued high incidence of parental separation and divorce in the United States and describes the disturbances of child development, behavior, and health—short- and long-term—that accompany parental conflict and separation. With ∼40% of children experiencing the divorce of their parents before their 16th birthday, parental separation and divorce stands as one of the most common and significant risks to the healthy development of children today. The Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health prepared this report to assist and encourage pediatricians in recognizing early signs of parental conflict, monitoring the well-being of the affected children, advocating for the child’s needs, and striving to maintain a supportive relationship with each parent. However, the Committee also believes that pediatricians have an opportunity to positively influence parental relationships in advance of marital disruption. Pediatricians are often participants in family events that are known stressors to marital relationships. Not only is it important for the clinician to understand how parental conflict may impact the child, we contend that parents and families may gain needed support when pediatricians attend to the ways in which the child may stress the marriage. Even with the most wanted pregnancy, the arrival of the first infant redefines life for the new parents in practically every detail. From changes in daily routines to basic alterations in role and identity, first-time parents enter a new, and often uncharted, phase of life. With the child come incursions on time for the partner, for friends, for work and career goals, for sexual relations, and for leisure activities. Time available for each parent to focus on themselves and on each other usually drops precipitously in the first months of parenthood. Although for many …

The prevalence and disability of bipolar spectrum disorders in the US population: re-analysis of the ECA database taking into account subthreshold cases

Background: Despite emerging international consensus on the high prevalence of the bipolar spectrum in both clinical and community samples, many skeptics contend that narrowly defined bipolar disorder with a lifetime rate of about 1% represents a more accurate estimate of prevalence. This may in part be due to the fact that higher figures proposed for the bipolar spectrum (5–8%) have not been based on national data and have not included all levels of manic symptom severity. In the present secondary analyses of the US National Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) database, we provide further clarification on this fundamental public health issue. Methods: All respondents in the first wave (first interview) of the ECA household five site sample ( n=18,252) were classified on the basis of DSM-III criteria into lifetime manic and hypomanic episodes, as well as those with at least two lifetime manic/hypomanic symptoms below the threshold for at least 1 week duration (subsyndromal manic symptoms [SSM] group). Odds ratios were calculated on lifetime service utilization for mental health problems, measures of adverse psychosocial outcome, and suicidal behavior compared to subjects with no mental disorders or manic symptoms. Results: As originally reported nearly two decades ago by the primary investigators of the ECA, the lifetime prevalence for manic episode was 0.8%, and for hypomania, 0.5%. What is new here is the inclusion of subthreshold SSM subjects, which accounted for 5.1%, yielding a total of 6.4% lifetime prevalence for the bipolar spectrum. All three (manic, hypomanic and SSM) groups had greater marital disruption. There were significant increases in lifetime health service utilization, need for welfare and disability benefits and suicidal behavior when the SSM, hypomanic and manic subjects were compared to the no mental disorder group. Suicidal behavior was non-significantly highest in the hypomanic (bipolar II) group. Otherwise, hypomanic and manic groups had comparable level of service utilization and social disruption. Limitations: Comorbid disorders, which might influence functioning, were not included in the present analyses. Conclusion: These secondary analyses of the US National ECA database provide convincing evidence for the high prevalence of a spectrum of bipolarity in the community at 6.4%, and indicate that subthreshold cases are at least five times more prevalent than DSM-based core syndromal diagnoses at about 1%. These SSM subjects, who met the criteria of “caseness” from the point of view of harmful dysfunction, are of great theoretical and public health significance.

Childhood Living Arrangements and the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce

Using detailed data on the childhood living arrangements of children taken from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), the impact of multiple dimensions of parent histories on the likelihood of offspring divorce is investigated. Although past research is replicated by finding a positive impact of parental divorce on offspring divorce, the author also finds that living apart from both parents, irrespective of the reason, is associated with an increased risk of divorce. In particular, children who were born out of wedlock and who did not experience parental divorce or death experience a very high risk of marital disruption. However, neither the number of transitions in childhood living arrangements nor parental remarriage appear to substantially affect the risk of marital dissolution. Finally, variations in the timing of and circumstances surrounding marriage appear to mediate a substantial proportion of the effect of parent histories on offspring divorce.

Children's Well‐Being during Parents' Marital Disruption Process: A Pooled Time‐Series Analysis

On the basis of a large, nationally representative multiwave panel, this research examines the extent to which parents' marital disruption process affects children's academic performance and psychological well‐being at 2time points prior to and 2 time points after parental divorce. The results of a pooled time‐series analysis show that compared with peers in intact families, children of divorce fare less well in most well‐being measures at all 4 time points, from approximately 3 years before divorce to 3 years after divorce. Interestingly, whereas the effects of the disruption process on students' test scores demonstrate a linear decline over time, the effects on their social‐psychological measures exhibit a U‐shaped time pattern. Families in the process of marital disruption are also characterized by a deficit in economic and social resources at various time points of this process. These differences in family resources either partially or completely mediate the detrimental effects of the disruption process over time. Furthermore, the process of marital disruption appears to affect girls to the same extent that it does boys. Finally, the causal role of divorce in affecting children is also discussed.

Guardianship primavera: A first look at factors associated with having a legal guardian using a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling adults

Although guardianship is an intrusive intervention that usually removes an adult's basic civil rights, studies of factors that place adults at risk for guardianship have largely been based on small studies of court files. While important and informative, these studies do not allow us to draw anything but tentative conclusions on risk factors for guardianship. The purpose of this article is to examine risk factors for having a legal guardian using a nationally representative sample for the first time. Logistic regression was conducted on the probability of having a legal guardian, using the Andersen model of health care utilization adapted for factors implied by the guardianship literature. The National Health Interview Supplement on Disability (1995) sample consisted of 65,013 adults aged 19 and older, and a sub-sample aged 60 and older ( n = 13,784). Results indicate, first, that the prevalence of guardianship in community-dwelling adults is 0.3 percent, or over 750,000 people. Second, particularly for older adults, increasing age, having physical or emotional limitations, a small family network, and not living with a spouse are associated with having a guardian. Decreasing size of family networks and increasing marital disruption in future cohorts of older adults may suggest increasing need for legal guardianship. Further study should be conducted to replicate these findings in other large data sets and in extensive community studies.

Interactional effects of marital status and physical abuse on adolescent psychopathology

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the interactional effects of parental marital disruption and physical abuse on risk for adolescent psychopathology in a nonclinical sample with a randomly selected control group. Method: The sample was drawn from 99 community-based adolescents indicated as physically abused by Child Protective Services and 99 randomly selected controls. Nonabused adolescents whose parents were married, abused adolescents whose parents were married, nonabused adolescents with a parental marital disruption, and abused adolescents with a parental marital disruption were compared. Outcome was psychopathology as measured by psychiatric diagnosis based on a best-estimate procedure subsequent to semistructured diagnostic interviewing. Results: Interactional effects of marital disruption and abuse were found for risk for lifetime Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), with parental marital disruption and having been physically abused combining to increase the risk 15 times for diagnosis of lifetime ADHD. Parental marital status alone was not a significant risk factor for adolescent psychopathology, but physical abuse was a significant risk factor for several diagnostic categories. Conclusions: Future divorce research should include abuse history as a possible confounding variable. Possible reasons for the findings are reviewed and clinical implications are discussed.

An Empirical Test of Crisis, Social Selection, and Role Explanations of the Relationship Between Marital Disruption and Psychological Distress: A Pooled Time‐Series Analysis of Four‐Wave Panel Data

Although a higher level of psychological distress has been found in many studies of divorced compared with married individuals, explanations for this difference remain elusive. Three basic theoretical explanations have been proposed. Social role theory maintains that the role of being divorced is inherently more stressful than that of being married; crisis theory attributes the higher stress to role transitions and transient stressors of the disruption process, and social selection theory claims that the higher stress levels among the divorced result from the selection of people with poor mental health into divorce. Some empirical support is available for each of these approaches, but all three have not been tested simultaneously in a longitudinal study. This research empirically evaluates the efficacy of these theories in a pooled time‐series analysis of a four‐wave panel of married persons followed over 12 years. The pooled‐time series random effects model was used to estimate the effects of social roles, crisis, and social selection. The results provide evidence that the higher stress levels of the divorced primarily reflect the effect of social role with selection and crisis effects making small contributions only.

Wife Murder in Chicago: 1910-1930

Between 1910 and 1930, at least 391 women were intentionally killed by their husbands in Chicago. This is a relatively small subset of all the homicides in Chicago over this period, approximately 7297 in all. Nonetheless, it is clear that then, as now, homicide by an intimate partner was a leading cause of the premature death of women. This Article interrogates those 391 deaths for what they can tell us about marital disruption, domestic violence, and the lives of women in early-twentieth century America, and the extent to which they parallel or differ from the recent past. We discuss, among other things, the ethnicity, race, and age distribution of the victims, the apparent motivation for the murders, and the response of the criminal justice system-that is, the verdicts and/or sentences handed out, if any. To understand the implications of this data, we also explore the context in which these crimes occurred - the population changes, broader social and cultural trends that affected both the status of women and the institution of marriage, and the availability of reme­dies or services for victims of unhappy marriages, including the accessibility of both divorce and assistance for victims of domestic violence. From this examination, we draw a number of broader inferences about the continuing problem of marital violence, including wife murder, and society's response to it.

A twin study of genetic and environmental influences on suicidality in men.

Previous studies that have examined genetic influences on suicidal behaviour were confounded by genetic vulnerability for psychiatric risk factors. The present study examines genetic influences on suicidality (i.e. suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempt) after controlling for the inheritance of psychiatric disorders. Sociodemographics, combat exposure, lifetime DSM-III-R major depression, bipolar disorder, childhood conduct disorder, adult antisocial personality disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug dependence, alcohol dependence and lifetime suicidal ideation and attempt were assessed in 3372 twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry who were assessed in 1987 and 1992. Genetic risk factors for suicidality were examined in a multinomial logistic regression model. Additive genetic, shared environmental and non-shared environmental effects on suicidality were estimated using structural equation modelling, controlling for other risk factors. The prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt were 16.1% and 2.4% respectively. In a multinomial regression model, co-twin's suicidality, being white, unemployment, being other than married, medium combat exposure and psychiatric disorders were significant predictors for suicidal ideation. Co-twin's suicidality, unemployment, marital disruption, low education attainment and psychiatric disorders (except childhood conduct disorder) were significant predictors for suicide attempt. Model-fitting suggested that suicidal ideation was influenced by additive genetic (36%) and non-shared environmental (64%) effects, while suicide attempt was affected by additive genetic (17%), shared environmental (19%) and non-shared environmental (64%) effects. There may be a genetic susceptibility specific to both suicidal ideation and suicide attempt in men, which is not explained by the inheritance of common psychiatric disorders.

Characteristics of women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) who did or did not report history of depression: a preliminary report from the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles.

We examined the characteristics of 33 women with a diagnosis of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) who did (n = 19) or did not (n = 14) report a history of major depression. Five hundred thirteen older premenopausal women (ages 36-44) from a community-based sample completed a prospective evaluation of PMDD with daily records. The diagnosis of PMDD was confirmed in 33 women (6.3%), and 14 subjects met criteria for PMDD with no history of depression. Demographic characteristics, cigarette smoking, and menstrual and reproductive history of subjects with PMDD who did or did not report a history of depression were compared. Women with PMDD and no history of depression were more educated and more frequently had a marital disruption (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed with respect to reproduction-related characteristics or past cigarette smoking. These preliminary data suggest the existence of characteristics particularly related to women who meet criteria for PMDD and have no history of depression. Given the significant psychosocial impairment commonly associated with PMDD symptoms and the existing data that support its classification and adequate treatment as a distinct clinical entity, further studies are needed to better identify predictors of this syndrome unrelated to a lifetime history of depression.

The promotion of wellness in children and families: Challenges and opportunities.

This article considers the effects of marital disruption on children and families, using a risk and resilience perspective. The challenges that parental divorce poses for children are widely recognized; however, less attention has been given to strategies for promoting children's resilience and healthy developmental trajectories. The purpose of this article is to redress that imbalance by highlighting the importance of understanding pathways toward risk and resilience in children in the aftermath of divorce and the ways in which this research can be integrated into effective, evidence-based preventive interventions and proactive social policies that foster supportive parent-child relationships and psychological wellness in children and families.

Family Environment and Adolescents' Well‐Being Before and After Parents' Marital Disruption: A Longitudinal Analysis

Although previous research has noted that children of divorce tend to fare less well than peers raised in families with two biological parents, much less is known about how parents' marital disruption affects children as a continuous process in its different phases. Based on two waves of a large, nationally representative panel, this study demonstrates that even before the disruption, both male and female adolescents from families that subsequently dissolve exhibit more academic, psychological, and behavioral problems than peers whose parents remain married. Families on the verge of breakup are also characterized by less intimate parent‐parent and parent‐child relationships, less parental commitment to children's education, and fewer economic and human resources. These differences in family environment account for most well‐being deficits among adolescents in predisrupted families. Furthermore, the deterioration in different domains of the family environment appears to be associated with maladjustment in different aspects of children's lives. The postdisruption effects on adolescents can either be totally or largely predicted by predisruption factors and by changes in family circumstances during the period coinciding with the disruption. Finally, the analyses indicate that female adolescents are as likely to be affected by the parental divorce process as male adolescents.