Late-Life Divorce and Parents' Perceptions of Child Adjustment

Background and Purpose: Scholars have noted the recent emergence of late-life divorce (i.e., divorce in mid-life and beyond). The divorce literature is replete with studies focusing on the post-divorce adjustment of young children. Unlike divorce occurring earlier in the family life cycle, late-life divorce is more likely to impact children who have reached late adolescence and adulthood. Yet, little empirical knowledge exists about the post-divorce adjustment of these children. Further, even less is known about potential differences in post-divorce adjustment between late adolescent/adult children and younger children. Drawing from Schlossberg’s Transition Theory, we examine theoretically derived variables that potentially influence the probability of children in late-life divorced families being perceived by their parent as responding negatively to the divorce.

Method: Source of data. Our data come from an AARP study, The Divorce Experience: A Study of Divorce at Midlife and Beyond (Montenegro, 2004). This dataset is comprised of a stratified, nationally representative random sample of respondents who reported having a divorce between the ages of 40 and 69. Sample. Our sample was restricted to those who reported having children younger than 18 (N = 385) and those having at least one child aged 18 or older (N = 373). Measures. The dependent variable was a binary measure, indicating whether the participant perceived their children as “somewhat upset” or ”very upset” versus “supportive” or “ok” in reaction to the divorce. Predictors were organized into risk and protective factor groups . Analysis. Binary logistic regression was employed to assess how predictors influenced the odds of older and younger children (two separate models) being perceived as upset versus supportive.

Results: Results indicated that parents viewing the divorce as the right decision decreased the likelihood of perceived negative responses of both younger (OR = 0.40) and older children (OR = 0.31). Greater apprehensions about post-divorce parent-child relationships and child well-being increased the likelihood of perceived negative responses of both younger (OR = 1.79) and older children (OR = 2.09). Relationship duration increased the likelihood of perceived negative responses of younger children (OR = 1.05), while positive contact with the ex-spouse decreased the likelihood of perceived negative responses of older children (OR = 0.52). Lastly, divorces involving infidelity increased the likelihood of perceived negative responses of older children (OR = 2.20) compared to divorces resulting from no clear problems.

Conclusions and Implications: Factors that influence parents perceiving their children as reacting negatively to late-life divorce were surprisingly similar between both age groups of children. If anything, parents perceived older children’s reaction to the divorce as more responsive to the characteristics of the divorce situation, which could reflect older children’s greater awareness of the parents’ marriage. Thus, despite common assumptions, older children are not immune to the potential negative consequences of late-life parental divorce. Future clinical and intervention work should incorporate appropriate accommodations for both younger and older children in late-life divorced families. Interpretations of this study should be tempered by its cross sectional nature, and due to the absence of child self-reports of post-divorce reactions.