title: Parental separation/divorce in childhood and partnership outcomes at age 30.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous research has found that children exposed to separation/divorce may also experience relationship problems in adulthood. The aim of this investigation was to examine this issue in a birth cohort of over 900 New Zealand children studied to age 30.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were gathered over the course of the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS). The CHDS is a 30 year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265 children born in Christchurch (NZ) in 1977. The data collected included the following: (a) timing and number of parental separations and divorces from birth to 15 years; (b) partnership outcomes (16-30 years) of the number of cohabiting/marriage partnerships; positive partner relations; negative partner relations; partner adjustment/conduct problems; and interpartner violence victimization and perpetration; and (c) potential covariate factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Study findings showed the presence of significant associations between childhood parental separations/divorces and number of cohabiting/marriage partnerships (16-30 years) (p < .001), negative partner relations (p = .021), extent of partner adjustment/conduct problems (p < .001), and perpetration of interpartner violence (p = .018). Childhood parental separation/divorce explained less than 2.5% of the variance in partnership outcomes. These associations were explained statistically by a series of covariate factors associated with childhood parental separation/divorce including parental history of illicit drug use, childhood sexual abuse, childhood conduct problems (7-9 years), interparental conflict and violence, childhood physical punishment/maltreatment, family socio-economic status at the child's birth, and parental history of criminality. Tests of gender interaction showed that the effect of childhood parental separations/divorces may be the same for males and females. Analysis of the number of childhood parental separations/divorces experienced into three age groups (birth to 5, 5-10 years and 10-15 years) yielded similar results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that the general associations between childhood parental separation/divorce and partner relationships in adulthood reflect the consequences of various contextual factors that are associated with childhood parental separation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch Health and Development Study, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fergusson
authors.forename: Geraldine F H
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: McLeod
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: John Horwood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adulthood; child development; family factors; longitudinal studies; marital relationships