Partners from four types of couples without children (gay unmarried, lesbian unmarried, heterosexual unmarried, and heterosexual married, Ns=1,412, 1,310, 1,036, and 1,728, respectively) were compared to partners from heterosexual married couples with children ("N"= 3,116) on mean levels of variables from a model of relationship adjustment as well…

Responds to previous article by Amato on children's adjustment to divorce. Focuses on two aspects of Amato's review: the mechanics of the review (perspectives advanced, criteria used to evaluate generated hypotheses, and accuracy of conclusions) and critical comments raised about the existing literature and in particular the proposed general model…

Surveyed 25 divorced mothers and their children to study divorce experiences and predictors of adjustment. Results showed mothers' positive adjustment was related to nontraditional sex role attitudes as well as personality traits including social maturity. Parental conflict and mothers' stress influenced children's social and psychological…

Single divorced parents were interviewed about the degree of conflict in the preseparation period, their children's reactions to the news of the separation, their children's present attitude toward the divorce, and their own estimation of the strengths their children had acquired as a result of adjusting to the divorce. (Author)

Evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Children's Beliefs about Parental Divorce Scale with three nonclinic samples. Demonstrated six subscales: Peer Ridicule and Avoidance, Paternal Blame, Fear of Abandonment, Maternal Blame, Hope of Reunification, and Self-Blame. The number of problematic beliefs varied by family structure but not by…

Administered questionnaires to divorced, single custodial parents and their 5 to 19-year-old children. Found positive reactions and adjustments related to children defining divorce in terms of psychological separation between the parents, sharing concerns with friends, positive evaluations of both parents, and acquiring strengths and…

Assessed relationships between adolescent adjustment in stepfamilies and family context and process variables. Findings from 118 sixth and seventh grade students living with stepfathers and 32 living with stepmothers indicated that students living with stepfathers had higher self-esteem and fewer reported social problems than those living with…

Investigated the effects of and relationship between the number of parenting transitions (divorce, remarriage) and adjustment in three samples of adolescent girls and boys not identified as being at risk for problems. Found qualified evidence of a negative linear relationship between the number of parenting transitions experienced and child…

Examined psychological adjustment and correlates of psychological adjustment of seventh and ninth grade students residing in two-parent nuclear families, stepfather families, and mother-custody divorced families. Adjustment related negatively to family conflict and to use of externalizing coping strategies, and positively to the family dimensions…