Work

Parents’ divorce proneness: The influence of adolescent problem behaviors and parental efficacy

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Early adolescents’ problem behaviors were examined as predictors of parents’ divorce proneness in a community-based sample of 416 families across a 4-year time span. Using family systems theory, it was hypothesized that adolescents’ problems are linked to parents’ divorce proneness through parents’ lower perceived parenting efficacy. Results indicated that adolescents’ externalizing problems were associated with wives’ increased divorce proneness, but not directly with husbands’ increased divorce proneness. Adolescents’ problem behaviors were linked with husbands’ increased divorce proneness through lower paternal efficacy. In terms of crossover effects, adolescents’ problem behaviors were linked with spouses’ increased divorce proneness through their spouses’ lower parenting efficacy. These results specified the family systems precept of interdependence by explicating transmission patterns across family members and subsystems.

Source: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

DOI: 10.1177/0265407510386991

Authors: Mary Julia C. Moore, Cheryl Buehler

Institution: University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Language: English

Topic: Family Dynamics and Relationships

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health