Effects of Timing of Parental Divorce on Children's Romantic Relationships in Adulthood: A Review
A literature review was conducted to determine what age children are most vulnerable to the impact of parental divorce on their romantic relationships in adulthood. Fourteen articles were included in this review. Results of the review showed different outcomes based on stage of life. Parental divorce in infancy, early childhood, late childhood, and adolescence resulted in the most negative long term effects on the children's intimate relationships later in life. Children in middle childhood and young adulthood at the time of their parents' marital dissolution appeared to be most resilient to its impact on their romantic relationships in adulthood. Literature on this association is still very limited. This review can be used as a starting point for future research. PARENTAL DIVORCE AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS 3 Effects of Timing of Parental Divorce on Children's Romantic Relationships in Adulthood: A Review It has been well documented that parental divorce can have negative consequences for children, because it causes great distress during a developmentally critical point of life. These consequences can be seen in the emotional, psychological, educational, social, and interpersonal reactions of the children. Many of these consequences are carried into adulthood. Sociological theories suggest that the time and financial constraints associated with divorce mean that divorced parents are less able able to regulate children's behavior, provide stimulation, exercise social control, and give individual attention (Furstenberg Kiernan, 2001) As a result, parental divorce has been linked to depression in adulthood, emotional disorders, lower academic achievement, and even higher premature mortality risk, to name just a few (Aseltine Jr, 1996; Chase Lansdale, Cherlin, Kiernan, 1995; Tucker et al. 1997) A particularly crucial consequence of parental divorce is its effect on the future romantic relationships of the children involved. Huurre, Junkkari, and Aro (2006) report that females especially faced more interpersonal problems if they came from a divorced home background. Female children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce, while male children are less likely to marry at all (Keith Finlay, 1988) Children who have experienced the marital dissolution of their families are also more likely to become sexually active at earlier ages and enter partnerships earlier (Kiernan Hobcraft, 1997) They tend to develop more negative attitudes toward marriage in general and are less likely to be in close relationships (Segrin, Taylor, Altman, 2005) The interpersonal relationships of children from divorced families is of particular concern because it creates a cycle known as the intergenerational transmission of divorce. Children of PARENTAL DIVORCE AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS 4 divorced parents are more likely to get divorced themselves, which continues the effects of parental divorce in the next generation (Wolfinger, 1999) Divorce also has a drastic effect on their development and adjustment to adulthood. Developing romantic relationships is a key milestone during adulthood. Erikson studied the developmental life stages of humans and determined that the crisis faced during young adulthood is creating intimate relationships (as cited in McLeod, 2008) If this process is interfered with, perhaps because of the lingering effects of parental divorce, then the young adult will develop feelings of isolation instead (McLeod, 2008) For these reasons, it is important to identify risk factors for maladaptive interpersonal relationships due to parental divorce in order to attenuate the long term, negative consequences that children experience. Age is one factor that has been studied because children have different perceptions of and responses to divorce depending on their age and development (Leon, 2003) However, most research has focused on the differences between children of divorce and children in intact families, rather than the differences between children who experience parental divorce at various ages. The purpose of this study was to analyze the research in order to determine if there are certain ages at which parental divorce occurs where children are most vulnerable to experiencing problems in developing and/or maintaining romantic relationships as adults. Although research on this topic refers to families with divorced parents as "disrupted families" or "broken families," they will be referred to as divorced families in this review in order to avoid the negative connotations "disrupted" and "broken" gives to this family structure. PARENTAL DIVORCE AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS 5