Adolescents' adaptation to parental separation or divorce

This study presents variables found to influence the adaptation of adolescents to parental separation/divorce. The purposes of the study were to (1) investigate adolescent adaptation following parental separation/divorce guided by the theoretical framework of stress and coping literature, and (2) examine previously unexplored adjustment factors that the literature indicated were relevant.

The partial correlations in the study examined the relationship among independent variables (pileup of stressors, social network, level of coping, and perception) and two dependent variables (self-esteem and depression). Finally, standard multiple regressions were run to determine the contribution of independent variables in explaining the variance in the study.

Findings of the study were based on questionnaire responses from 90 adolescents experiencing parental separation or divorce between June 1985 and June 1987. The 34 males and 56 females in the study ranged from 12 to 18 years of age. Results of the partial correlations showed that pileup of stressors was negatively correlated with self-esteem and positively correlated with depression. High social network was positively correlated with self-esteem and negatively correlated with depression. No support was found for the remaining two variables.

Results of the multiple regression showed that the combined independent variables (pileup of stressors, social network, level of coping and perceived stress) explained a significant proportion of the variance of the adolescent's level of self-esteem and depression.