Parental Divorce and Attitudes and Feelings toward Marriage and Divorce in Emerging Adulthood: New Insights from a Multiway-Frequency Analysis

Authors

  • Fanie Collardeau Psychology Department, University of Victoria
  • Marion Ehrenberg University of Victoria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/jeps.341

Keywords:

Romantic Relationships, Young Adults, Parental Divorce

Abstract

Experiencing parental divorce can exert long-term consequences on children’s attitudes toward marriage and divorce. Participants’ opinions on marriage and divorce were qualitatively coded and two themes selected based on Willoughby’s theoretical framework. Multiway frequency analyses (MFA) were used to investigate associations between empirically based factors (derived from previous empirical studies) and participants’ endorsement of the two themes. Four hundred and forty six participants between 18 and 25 years-old, including 217 participants from divorced households, were interviewed. Young adults’ optimism toward marital relationships was related to more proximal factors and a lesser number of factors than young adults’ positive attitude toward divorce. Religious affiliation and parental conflict stood out as important factors. Recommendations are offered for future research.

Author Biographies

Fanie Collardeau, Psychology Department, University of Victoria

I obtained my B.A. from the American University of Paris in France with a double major in Psychology and International and Comparative Politics.

I am currently enrolled as a M.Sc. Student in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology, at the University of Victoria.

Marion Ehrenberg, University of Victoria

PhD., licenced clinical psychologist

Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria

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Published

2016-04-15

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2016 The Author(s)

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