Marital Transitions: Marriage, Parenthood, Divorce

1. Marital Transitions: Marriage, Parenthood, Divorce Lecture 11/15/04

2. Cultural Differences in Marriage • African Americans wait longer and are less likely to marry or remarry. • African Americans are more likely to separate and divorce and to remain separated without divorce. • 38% of white children experience parental separation or divorce by age 16; almost 74% of African American children experience this by age 16.

3. Marital Transitions & Happiness Set Points I • According to adaptation theory / hedonic treadmill theory (Brickman & Campbell, 1971), subjective well-being (SWB) is stable. • Individuals adapt to extreme (+) and (-) circumstances • Objective circumstances account for little variance • Personality and genetic factors • Q: do levels of life satisfaction return to baseline after marital events across 15 years?

4. Marital Transitions & Happiness Set Points II • Marriage, widowhood and divorce are among the most stressful life events. • The relation between marriage and higher SWB is robust, though it may explain little variance. • Selection – few adaptation effects from marital transitions • Social role explanations – additional hardships (divorce / widowhood) account for SWB differences (little change) • Crisis or event explanation – with adaptation, SWB returns to previous levels • Importance of individual differences.

5. Marital Transitions & Happiness Set Points III • One event only in the GSOEP; marriage and widowhood only (divorce not long-term). • People have baseline levels of satisfaction above the midpoint.

6. Transition to Marriage I • People who became and stayed married started the GSOEP with higher SWB. • LS increases 1-year before marriage • Marriage has a (+) w/in S association with LS • Lots of individual differences • In the reactivity and adaptation model, inds vary greatly in substantial (+) and (-) changes in satisfaction after marriage. • One’s initial reaction predicts adaptation (80%) • Little change, on average!

7. Transition to Widowhood • A significant drop in satisfaction in the year preceding widowhood and during widowhood. • Substantial variability • Significantly lower life satisfaction during reaction and adaptation phases. • Significant variability in adaptation, related to one’s initial reaction (8 years out closest to complete). • Some individuals don’t adapt to widowhood. • Long-lasting effects!

8. Marital Transition • People’s life satisfaction changes with important social events, and then individuals adapt over time. • Long-term levels of SWB not solely determined by personality and genetics. • Selection and event or crisis models of marital transitions supported; role transition theory supported only for widowhood. • Less btwen-S variance than w/in-S variance in life satisfaction due to marital transitions. • The most satisfied people reacted least (+) to marriage and most (-) to divorce & widowhood.

9. Transition to Parenthood:Dimensions of Adult Attachment • Avoidance: assesses the desire to limit intimacy and maintain psychological and emotional independence from significant others. • Anxiety or ambivalence: assesses the concern that relationship partners might not be available or supportive when needed. • Secure: comfort with dependence and intimacy; no worries about being abandoned or unsupported.

10. Transition to Parenthood I • Associated with downturns in marital satisfaction for many couples. • Associated with increased conflict and reductions in companionate activity. • Variability! • Marital satisfaction tends to be affected more adversely in women than men (Belsky & Pensky, 1988)

11. Transition to Parenthood: Women • More ambivalent women should perceive less support from their husbands than should less ambivalent women. • Experience significant declines in support from Time 1 to Time 2 • Less satisfied with their marriage • Seek less support from their spouse • Perceive themselves as the target of greater anger from husbands • Moderated by perceptions of spousal support. • Highly avoidant wives will report less support seeking than less avoidant wives.

12. Transition to Parenthood: Men • Men who are romantically involved with highly ambivalent women tend to be very dissatisfied with their relationship. • Report providing more support than wife perceives • Report behaving more angrily toward wife • View wife as having more negative attributes • More dissatisfied with their marriage • Men involved with highly avoidant partners also tend to be less satisfied.

13. Transition to Parenthood: Results I • Both wives and husbands reported declines in marital satisfaction. • Wives perceived less support and greater anger from husbands and sought less support (trend) • Husbands reported providing less support • Higher levels of ambivalence were associated with higher levels of avoidance, with husbands’ and wives’ avoidance scores positively associated.

14. Transition to Parenthood: Results II • Women’s ambivalence and prenatal perceptions of spousal support interact to predict marital functioning during the transition to parenthood for both wives and husbands. • Wives reported large declines in spousal support, support seeking, and marital satisfaction • Highly ambivalent women who perceived lower prenatal support experienced the largest declines in satisfaction • Interaction also predicted declines in husband’s marital satisfaction and support giving, and increases in anger. • Wives’ perceptions mediated husband’s transition.

15. Transition to Parenthood: Results III • Highly ambivalent wives who perceived high levels of support before childbirth reported comparatively good marital functioning at Time 2. • Correlations between ambivalence and marital measures were stronger in the postbirth period. • This was not true for correlations with avoidance! In this situation, avoidance worked. • Men married to more ambivalent women reported that they were less supportive and behaved more angrily.

16. Divorce Statistics • 1996 data: over 45% of marriages in the US end in divorce. • Following divorce, 84% of children live with mothers in a single-parent home. • 65% of women remarry. • 75% of men remarry. • Rates of cohabitation are high in divorced individuals who do not remarry. • Divorce rates are higher in remarriages.

17. Divorce: Impact on Children I • Many children experience problems in the months following parental divorce. Greatest effects in: • Externalizing disorders • Lack of self-regulation • Low social responsibility • Diminished cognitive agency and achievement • The most adverse consequences in adjustment are experienced by children exposed to multiple marital transitions.

18. Divorce: Impact on Children II • On average, children of divorced parents are less socially, emotionally and academically well-adjusted. • Problems diminish with time as the family restabilizes, BUT • Problems can emerge or re-emerge later in development

19. Divorce: Impact on Emerging Adults • Less likely to have attended or completed college. • More likely to be unemployed and on welfare. • More likely to have fewer financial resources. • More likely to have problems in relationships with parents and siblings. • More likely to have problems in forming and maintaining other stable relationships, including marital relationships.

20. Predictors of Vulnerability andResilience • Adolescent girls may experience more difficulties than boys: • Behavior problems • Educational attainment • Well-being • OR, girls may show exceptional competence under moderate stress and in the presence of a caring adult. • Father involvement reduces negative consequences.

21. Predictors of Vulnerability andResilience: Personality Factors • Better adjustment in the context of: • Intelligence • Competence • Easy temperament • High self-esteem • Internal locus of control • Good sense of humor

22. Parenting After Divorce • The family environment plays a central role in the responses of children to divorce. • The parenting of divorced parents, on average, remains less authoritative than that of non-divorced parents. • Noncustodial mothers are more likely to establish and maintain contact with their children, and make other modifications, than are noncustodial fathers. • Children adjust better in a harmonious single-parent household than in an acrimonious two-parent household.