Adolescents with a childhood experience of parental divorce: a longitudinal study of mental health and adjustment.
**This is a prospective Norwegian study of a group of adolescents with an experience of parental divorce or separation (n=413) and a comparison group without this experience (n=1758). Mean age at T1 was 14.4 years and mean age at T2 was 18.4 years. Parental divorce was prospectively associated with a relative change in anxiety and depression, subjective well-being, self-esteem, and school problems. Considering boys separately, parental divorce was prospectively associated only with school problems. Among the girls, divorce was prospectively associated with all variables. The effect of divorce on relative change was partially mediated by paternal absence.
Størksen
Ingunn
I
Division of Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, P.B. 4404 Nydalen, 0403 Oslo, Norway. ingunn.storksen@fhi.no
Røysamb
Espen
E
Moum
Torbjørn
T
Tambs
Kristian
K
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D004243:Divorce; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009664:Norway; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires