The long-term psychological consequences of parental divorce on young single adults

English: The divorce rate in modern western society is steadily on the rise and has reached alarming proportions. As divorce is a major disruption of the family unit and often occurs when children are at a young and vulnerable age, many researchers are concerned about the psychological impact that divorce has on these children, and have questioned how they are affected by this disruption in their families. Until recently, however, there has not been much research on how it influences them in their own adulthood, particularly as they confront the specific developmental stages of late adolescence and early adulthood and the psychological tasks involved in these stages. In light of this information, the present study focussed on the experiences of adult children of divorce in order to have a better understanding of their adjustment and the long-term effects of divorce. It examined how divorce affected their progression through Erickson's identity and intimacy stages, concentrating along several measures of adjustment including self-esteem, general life satisfaction, attitudes towards marriage, love styles, and sexual attitudes and behaviour. It was suggested that young adults from divorced homes would have lower self-esteem, less general lifesatisfaction, different love styles, and more liberal sexual attitudes and behaviour. The research sample comprised of 200 young adults from across South Africa who were randomly selected, and volunteered to participate in this study. The divorce group consisted of 100 single young adults from divorced parents, while the married group consisted of 100 single young adults [Tom married parents. The data was gathered by using a biographical questionnaire and five selfreport questionnaires, and subjects who volunteered to participate completed the questionnaires, consisting of questions regarding biographical information, self-esteem, general life satisfaction, attitudes towards marriage, love styles and sexual attitudes and behaviour. The two groups were then compared along these measures of adjustment. The Hotelling 'P-rest for independent groups was used for this purpose and was done with the help of the BMOP P30-programme (Dixon, 1985). The results of this study indicated that there were significant differences across four of the measures. It was indicated, that compared to young adults from married parents, young adults from divorced parents were significantly more negative in their attitudes towards marriage and significantly less altruistic (agapic love) in their love styles than young adults from married parents. Furthermore the results indicated that young adults from divorced parents were significantly more liberal in their sexual attitudes regarding petting and sexual intercourse than young adults from married parents. There were also differences along several of the other measures of adjustment, although they were not statistically significant. These differences indicated that young adults from divorced parents had slightly lower self-esteem, slightly less general life satisfaction, different love styles, and slightly more liberal sexual behaviour compared to those from married parents. The implications of this were that young adults from divorced homes faced certain challenges regarding identity and intimacy issues and had their own set of beliefs and expectations in intimate relationships. It was suggested that practitioners working with young adults from divorced parents identify divorce-related processes obstructing or complicating their adjustment and development. Furthermore, it was suggested that they have an accurate and detailed understanding of young adults' beliefs and behaviours regarding current relationships, as well as information regarding the events and emotional climate surrounding the divorce. An understanding of the possible influence of past events would also prove beneficial to young adults entering intimate relationships of their own. It was especially important for young adults entering marriage to identify any assumptions and expectations regarding marriage. It was suggested that they learn to assess these important process dimensions and to utilise the available therapeutic interventions and programmes that would assist them in their own intimate relationships.