title: Parental divorce and adjustment in adulthood: findings from a community sample. The ALSPAC Study Team. Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood.
abstract: The current study examines the link between the experience of divorce in childhood and several indices of adjustment in adulthood in a large community sample of women. Results replicated previous research on the long-term correlation between parental divorce and depression and divorce in adulthood. Results further suggested that parental divorce was associated with a wide range of early risk factors, life course patterns, and several indices of adult adjustment. Regression analyses indicated that the long-term correlation between parental divorce and depression in adulthood is explained by quality of parent-child and parental marital relations (in childhood), concurrent levels of stressful life events and social support, and cohabitation. The long-term association between parental divorce and experiencing a divorce in adulthood was partly mediated through quality of parent-child relations, teenage pregnancy, leaving home before 18 years, and educational attainment.
authors.affiliation: Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. spjwtoc@iop.bpmf.ac.uk
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Golding
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D010553:Personality Development; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment