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Amer. J. Orthopsychiat. 62(3), July 1992

PARENTAL DIVORCE, ADOLESCENCE, AND TRANSITION TO YOUNG ADULTHOOD:

A Follow-Up Study

Hillevi M. Aro, M.D., Ph.D., and Ulla K. Palosaari, M.D.

In a long-term study of the effects of divorce, children in a Finnish town who had

completed questionnaires in school at age I6 were followed up with postal ques

tionnaires at age 22. Depression in young adulthood was found to be slightly

more common among children from divorced families. In addition, the life tra

jectories of children in divorced families revealed more stressful paths and more

distress in both adolescence and young adulthood.

R esearch has shown that parental di

vorce is a stressful experience for chil dren at any age (Cooney, Smyer, Hagestad, & Klock, 1986; Richards & Dyson, 1982; Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980). Some sequelae of divorce emerge rapidly following sepa

ration and some of these increase over the first years following divorce and then abate; still others may emerge later ( Hethering ton, Cox, & Cox, 1982; Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1989).

Relatively little empirical research has been devoted to the ways in which earlier parental loss affects the adolescent devel opmental process and transition to adult hood (Demo & Acock, 1988). It has been reported that adolescents in divorced fam

ilies have a more negative self-evaluation (Boyd, Nunn, & Parish, 1983), poorer school performance, and less optimism about the future (Saucier & Ambert, 1982) than do adolescents in nondivorced families. Fur thermore, compared with adolescent girls in nondivorced families, those in divorced

families have been reported more fre quently to exhibit behavioral problems: de linquency, drug use, and running away ( Kal

ter, Riemer, Brickman, & Chen, 1985) and deviations in heterosexual interaction (Heth erington, 1972).

In a study by Wallerstein ( 1987), young adults expressed vivid memories of paren

tal divorce and said it was the most impor tant factor in their present life. Binder, Dobler-Mikola, and Angst (1981) reported that parental separation was associated with both depressive and psychosomatic symp toms among young Swiss adults. In a long term follow-up study in the United King

dom, Wadsworth, Maclean, Kuh, and Rodgers ( 1990) found that delinquency by age 21 was highe·r among young people of both sexes whose parents had split up, and that the experience of parental separation in childhood was a risk to educational attain ment. Furthermore, compared with daugh ters of nondivorced families, those who ex perienced parental divorce in their childhood

A revised version of a paper submitted to the Journal in February 1991. Authors are at the National Public Health Institute, Helsinki.

itJ 1992 American Orthopsychiatric Association, Inc. 421

T hi

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tio n

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a lli

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. T

hi s

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in te

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422

seemed to have more difficulties in hetero

sexual relationships and a greater propen

sity to divorce (Glenn & Kramer, 1985; Kalter et al . . 1985; Southworth & Schwarz, 1987). On the other hand, some studies have

reported only slight differences in adult ad justment by family structure (Kulka & Weingarten, 1979).

This article addresses the question of

whether children who experienced parental divorce before age 16 differed in psycho

social well-being, behavior, or life situa

tion during adolescence or young adult hood from children in nondivorced two

parent families.

METHOD Subjects and Procedure

The study population included all ninth grade pupils attending secondary school in spring 1 983 in Tampere, an industrial and university town of 166,000 inhabitants in

southern Finland. In the first phase of the study, 2, 1 94 pupils (96. 7%), with a mean age of 15. 9 years (SD . 3 years), partici pated; the pupils filled in questionnaires in classrooms during school hours.

In the second phase, questionnaires were mailed to the same study cohort in spring 1 989 when they were about 22 years old.

From the original study population, four had died, 18 could not be identified be cause of inappropriate completion or miss ing identification numbers, and the ad dresses of 33 could not be found ( 17 of them were known to have moved abroad). Thus, the follow-up cohort consisted of

2, 1 39 persons (97%). The response rate was 77.4% (N= 1,656).

Children who had experienced parental death in childhood were excluded from the present analyses. A total of 24% of the chil dren had experienced parental divorce be fore the first phase of the study. In the fol low-up phase, 356 subjects were from divorced families and 1 , 202 from nondi vorced two-parent families. About half the children (53%) came from blue-collar fam ilies. The prevalence of parental divorce

CHILDREN OF DIVORCE

among children from blue-collar families was 25% and in white-collar families was

22%.

Measures

First phase. The questionnaire included a checklist of somatic and psychological

symptoms, questions about personal char acteristics (self-esteem, school perfor mance), behavior, and life situation (e.g., family background, relationships with par

ents, peer relationships, and life events). For details, see H. Aro ( 1988).

The symptom checklist had been used earlier in a nationwide Finnish study on ju venile health habits (Rimpelii, Rimpelii, & Pasanen, 1982) and in an adult population study (S. Aro, 1981 ). The following symp toms were included in the sum score of somatic complaints: abdominal pains, loss

of appetite, headache, difficulties in falling asleep at night or wakefulness during the night, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, tremor of hands, diarrhea or irregular bowel func tion, excessive perspiration without physi

cal effort, heartburn or stomach acid trou bles, breathlessness, and palpitations. The sum score was obtained by totaling the fol

lowing ratings for each item: 0 = never,

l =sometimes, 2 =quite often, 3 =often or continuously.

The self-esteem scale was a modified ver sion of that developed for Finnish students (Helenius & Lyttinen, 1974). It consisted of seven self-assertions on a five-point scale. The classification of socioeconomic status

(SES) was based on a standard classifica tion of occupations (Central Statistical Of

fice, 1975), using the father's occupation, if available, or the mother's. In cases of unknown occupation, the assignment of so

cial class was based on the parent's educa tion.

Second phase. The follow-up ques tionnaire included the same checklist of symptoms and age-appropriate versions of questions about personal characteristics, be

havior, education, family background, per sonal relationships, life situation, life events,

T hi

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in at

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ARO AND PALOSAARI

and social support. The short, 1 3 -item Beck's Depression Inventory (S-BDI), mod

ified for Finnish population studies by in clusion of introductory questions and an ad ditional positive choice of answer for each

item, was used as a screening instrument for depression (Beck, Rial, & Rickels. 1974; Mattlar et al . . 1987). S-BDI score five was used as a cutoff point. The additional pos

itive choices of items do not affect the scor ing of depression.

Comparisons of the participants and non participants showed that the latter were more

often males and that they more often had poor school performance. No significant dif ferences were found in parental divorce, in parental SES, or in symptom scores at age 16.

Opportunities to validate the self-reports

were limited. Comparisons of the answers

at the beginning of the study and in the follow-up showed that reports of parental

divorce were concordant in 96. 3 % of the cases. After the cases with discrepant an swers were checked against official records, it was found that six people (I. 7%) failed to report parental divorce in the follow-up and eight (2. 5%) had failed to do so at the be ginning of the study.

Analyses. The group differences were tested by Student's t-test and the chi-square test. Socioeconomic differences in the asso ciation between parental divorce and the out-

423

come measures were studied by partitioning

the data. The results were then checked, con trolling for social class, using two-way anal ysis of variance and partial chi-square in log linear analyses, when appropriate.

RESULTS Adolescent Development

At age 1 6, children from divorced fami

lies differed in many respects from children in nondivorced families ( H. Aro & Ranta nen, in press), as can be seen in TABLE l . Adolescents, especially girls, in divorced

families reported more somatic complaints. Girls from divorced families also reported

lower self-esteem than did those from non divorced families; among boys no such dif ference was found. The school performance of both girls and boys from divorced fami lies was inferior to that of children from non

divorced families. These boys and girls less often planned to continue their studies in high school (girls: 42% VS 65.6%, X2 = 65.5, p<.001; boys 3 4.2% vs 50. 4%, x2= 1 2. 2, p<.001). Furthermore, children in di vorced families more frequently reported negative life events and interpersonal prob lems. There were also certain differences in behavior: dating (in girls), alcohol use, and smoking were more common among chil dren in divorced families (H. Aro, 1988). All the reported differences remained after adjusting for social class.

Table 1

MEANS OF SOMATIC COMPLAINTS, SELF-ESTEEM, AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AMONG OFFSPRING OF DIVORCED AND NONDIVORCED PARENTS AT AGES 16 AND 22

AGE16 AGE 22 FEMA LES MALES FEMALES MALES

NON- NON- NON- NON- DI- DI- DI- DI- DI- DI- DI- DI-

VORCED VORCED VORCED VORCED VORCED VORCED VORCED VOR CED (N= 777- (N=262- (N=830- (N= 236- (N= 630- (N= 207- (N= 5 6 7- (N= 144-

FACTORS 793) 269) 85 8) 24 9) 631) 208) 5 69) 146)

Somatic complaints 3. 9 5.1 ... 3. 3 3.8' 4.8 5 . 2 3.2 3. 9' Self-esteem• 1 7 . 4 18.5 .. 15.0 15.1 16.8 17 .7' 14.6 14.7 School performance 7. 9 7.5 ... 7.5 7.1 ... Negative life-events .9 1.3 ... .9 1 . 2 ... 1.1 1.4·· 1.1 1.1 Interpersonal problems .7 1. 2 ... .6 . 8' . 8 1.1 .. . 8 .9

• Higher scores= lower self-esteem . • p<.05: •• p<.01; ••• p<.001 .

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424

Figure 1

PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION AMONG OFFSPRING AT AGE 22

BY PARENTAL DIVORCE

20 -

� 0 -

c: 15 0

"ii) en � c.

10 Q) Cl

0 GIRLS BOYS

Note: Unshaded= nondivorced; shaded= divorced. • p<.05.

Young Adult Psychosocial Well-Being

At age 22, 1 7. 4% of the daughters from divorced families scored for depression on the S-BDI, compared with 1 1. 5% of the daughters from nondivorced families cx2 = 4. 7, p< .05); the respective figures for sons were 14.0% vs. 7.8% (x2=5.3, p<.05) (see FIGURE 1). In terms of family back ground, greater differences in depression were found between daughters of divorced and nondivorced parents of white-collar fam

ilies (1 8% vs 9%) than in those of blue collar families ( 16% vs 1 4%).

At age 22, males from divorced families still reported slightly higher levels of so matic complaints than did males from non divorced families, whereas, among fe males, no significant difference was found in this respect (see TABLE 1). Among fe males, some differences in reported self esteem were still present. Differences in health behavior still existed among both gen

ders: heavy drinking and daily smoking were more common among those with the back-

CHILDREN OF DIVORCE

ground of parental divorce (see FIGURE 2). The differences remained after controlling

for social class.

Transition Into Young Adulthood

In young adulthood, following earlier poorer school performance and less ambi tious educational plans, fewer children from

divorced families had a high school educa tion (see FIGURE 3). More of them were employed and fewer studying than were those from nondivorced families: 7% of the

females and 8% of the males were attend ing university, compared with 1 7% and

1 9%, respectively, of those from non di

vorced families. Shorter education and ear lier transition to the labor market were more

common among young people from blue collar families, but the differences by pa

rental divorce still remained after adjusting for social class.

More young adults from nondivorced than

from divorced families lived with their fam ilies of origin. No significant differences

were found in marriages or cohabiting, but more young adults from divorced families had children at this age (see FIGURE 4). This result was still valid when students

were excluded. Females from divorced families more fre

quently reported negative life events and

% 40

Figure 2

DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH BEHAVIOR AMONG OFFSPRING IN YOUNG

ADULTHOOD BY FAMILY BACKGROUND

Females % Males ...... 40

....

I i ......

I ......

� 20

0 Heavy Dally Heavy Dally drinking smoking drinking smoking

Note: Light shading= nondivorced parents; dark shad- ing =divorced parents. .. p<.01; ... p<.001.

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a lli

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. T

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in te

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ARO AND PALOSAARI

Figure 3

DIFFERENCES IN SCHOOLING AND EMPLOYMENT AMONG OFFSPRING

IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD BY FAMILY BACKGROUND

% Females 70

% Males 70

High Present Present school university employ·

education studies ment

��I� O High Present PrHent

school university •mploy· education studies ment

Note: Light shading= nondivorced parents; dark shad ing= divorced parents. ••p-c. .01; ···p· .001.

interpersonal problems than did females

from nondivorced families (see TABLE 1 ). With regard to single events, loss of a job was more common among both females and

males from divorced families, also after stu dents were excluded (TABLE 2).

Compared with females from nondi vorced families. those from divorced fam ilies had more frequently experienced di vorce. separation, or abortion themselves.

In addition. they more frequently reported increased conflict in intimate relationships, as well as increased conflict with their moth ers and friends. Among males, no such dif ferences were observed, but males from di

vorced families reported increased conflict

with teachers or superiors slightly more of ten. The reported differences were present after adjustments had been made for social class.

DISCUSSION All data in this study were based on self

reports. The validation of life-event reports in the earlier phase of the study ( H. Aro,

1987) and the present comparisons between the reports of divorce in the two phases of the study suggest that the questionnaire re ports of facts among Finnish adolescents

425

and young adults are fairly reliable. All share the same language and the same ethnic back

ground, and all have a nine-year education.

The study included one total age cohort in a Finnish town. Considering the instability

of this stage of life and the high frequency of changes in residence, for example, the dropout rate from the study in the fol low-up was relatively low. Psychological problems have been found to be more prev alent among those who drop out (Cox, Rut

ter, Yule, & Quinton, 1977), and they were probably more prevalent in this study as

well. However, this possibility should not greatly affect the associations studied, since no differences were found in the participa tion rate by family background.

Accomplishing the psychological devel opmental tasks of adolescence and young adulthood toward autonomy and intimacy

may be more complicated in children from divorced families. The impact of earlier di vorce on adolescent development and tran

sition to adulthood may lie in a complex combination of reactivations of earlier prob lems in relationships and the influence of present family relationships and life circum stances.

Many earlier studies on the psychosocial

Figure 4

DIFFERENCES IN LIVING SITUATION AND PARENTHOOD AMONG

OFFSPRING IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD BY FAMILY BACKGROUND

% Females 60

% Males 60

50 ns

Living In � Children childhood lemlly

30 ns

Note: Light shading= nondivorced parents; dark shad ing =divorced parents ·p<.05; .. p<.01.

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ARO AN D PALOSAARI

etiology of adult depression focused on pa rental loss, including both parental death

and separation (Lloyd, 1980). Brown ( 1988) demonstrated a model in which parental loss

is a vulnerability factor that increases the risk of depression in the face of current stressful circumstances. Rodgers ( 1990) re ported an association between parental di vorce and adult depression for females, but not for males. In the present study, depres

sion in young adulthood was slightly more common among both sexes with a family background of parental divorce.

Many recent studies have emphasized the importance of stressful chain reactions after divorce in mediating or explaining the pos

sible negative impact of divorce (Mednick, Baker, & Carothers, 1990; Rutter, 1985; Wadsworth et al., 1990). In the present study,

lower school performance, less education, more risky health behavior, earlier transition to working life, earlier transition to parent hood, and more abundant negative life events suggest that the life trajectories of children from divorced families differ in many cases from those of children from nondivorced fam ilies. The results also suggest that the life trajectories of children from divorced fami lies more frequently contain stressful paths and more distress. The role of these differ ent indirect chains of stress as possible me diating links between parental divorce and depression will be a focus of further analy

ses. The importance of parental divorce as such

in these chains remains open. It is possible

and even probable that parental divorce is mainly an indicator of other problems that

may be more prevalent in these families. There is strong evidence that parental dis cord is a crucial factor in the negative con sequences of divorce (Chess, Thomas, Mit telman, Korn, & Cohen, 1983; Demo & Acock, 1988; Emery, 1982; Hess & Ca mara, 1979; Long, 1986; Raschke & Raschke, 1979; Slater & Haber, 1984). Pa rental discord may have occurred Jong be

fore divorce. For instance, Block, Block, and Gjerde's ( 1986, 1988) prospective study

427

found that the subset of nondivorced fami lies in which divorce eventually occurred was

characterized by interpersonal tension and unsupportive parenting, especially of boys, years before the actual marital rupture. Fur

thermore, several postdivorce factors have been reported to affect the long-term out

come of children, among them child-parent and child-sibling relationships, postdivorce family structure, and parental adjustment (Fine, Moreland, & Schwebel, 1983; Heth erington, 1988; Kalter, 1989; Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1989; Wallerstein & Corbin, 1989; Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980).

Though the differences in the prevalence of divorce between social-class groups were only slight, parental SES could have been a confounding factor in the associations be tween parental divorce and different aspects of life trajectories. However, this was not

the case. The differences found even in the

case of schooling and job loss still remained after adjusting for SES. Social class should not be looked at only as a confounding fac tor; it is also possible that the impact of di

vorce is different in blue-collar and white collar families. There was a high prevalence of depression in girls from blue-collar fam

ilies, both divorced and nondivorced. This suggests that the transition to adulthood among girls from blue-collar families con tains stressful factors that increase the risk of

depression, irrespective of family structure. Parental divorce did not add to the risk of depression in this group.

Many studies have suggested that boys may be more vulnerable than girls to family disruptions in childhood (Guidubaldi & Perry, 1985; Hetherington, 1981; Rutter,

1985). There is some suggestion that the re actions of girls to parental divorce in ado lescence may be stronger than those of boys (Cooney et al., 1986) and that the delayed

effects in girls of earlier divorce may emerge in adolescence or in young adulthood (Heth

erington, 1972; Kalter et al., 1985; H. Aro,

1989; Wallerstein & Corbin, 1989). How ever, in her review, Zaslow (1989) con

cluded that there is a discrepancy across stud-

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ies in findings of sex differences in children's responses to parental divorce. She argued

that a global view of sex differences should

be replaced by a more differentiated one: boys may respond more negatively in some

circumstances and some modalities of re

sponse, and girls may do so in others. In the

present study, no marked sex differences were

observed iri relation to parental divorce. In young adulthood, females showed some

what more problems in self-esteem and in timate interpersonal relationships, whereas

males whose parents were divorced reported

somewhat more somatic complaints and con flict with authority. The results of this study

also emphasize the need to measure discrete and diverse aspects of psychosocial function ing when addressing adaptation.

In summary, the results of the present study showed that differences in psycho

social well-being, behavior, and life situation by childhood experience of parental divorce are found both in adoles cence and in young adulthood. However,

it is important to remember that the majority of the children from divorced families also showed good psychosocial adaptation as young adults. Within devel opmental psychopathology, it will be interesting to study factors and processes that produce good adaptation in the face of stressful experiences ( Luthar & Zigler, 1991; Rutter, 1987). Such research might provide us with new information on how the stressfulness of parental divorce and

its negative long-term consequences could be reduced further.

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