title: Divorce transition differences of midlife women.
abstract: Divorce transition experienced by and its influence upon midlife women's health is not fully understood. Interviews were conducted with 24 divorced women who self-classified into decider status groups: initiator (who first decided to end marriage), non-initiator (recipient of end of marriage decision), and mutual decider (shared decision to end marriage). Interpretive content analysis involving pattern coding was conducted. The divorce transition by initiators (n=8) included self-focused growth, optimism, and social support losses and opportunities, while the divorce transition by non-initiators (n=8) included being left, ruminating, vulnerability, and spiritual comfort. No profile emerged for the mutual-decider group (n=8). This study supports that differences in divorce transition exist for initiators and non-initiators.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA. sakraida@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Teresa J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Sakraida
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D011582:Psychological Theory; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support