title: Cognitive moderators of children's adjustment to stressful divorce events: the role of negative cognitive errors and positive illusions.
abstract: This study examined whether children's cognitive appraisal biases moderate the impact of stressful divorce-related events on psychological adjustment in 355 children ages 9 to 12, whose families had experienced divorce within the past 2 years. Multiple regression indicated that endorsement of negative cognitive errors for hypothetical divorce events moderates the relations between stressful divorce events and self- and maternal reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, but only for older children. Positive illusions buffer the effects of stressful divorce events on child-reported depression and mother-reported externalizing problems. Implications of these results for theories of stress and coping, as well as for interventions for children of divorced families, are discussed.
authors: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287-1108, USA.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Mazur
authors: S A
authors: SA
authors: Wolchik
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Virdin
authors: I N
authors: IN
authors: Sandler
authors: S G
authors: SG
authors: West
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000523:psychology*; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*