Research on Divorce: Continuing Trends and New Developments

“biological-parent is more advantageous than the other family structures in terms of the resources it offers to children (Amato 2010; Barrett and Turner 2005; Orgiles and Samper 2011).”

“Whether this relationship is due to a causal effect of parental divorce (Amato 2010; McLanahan et al. 2013) or to unobserved characteristics”

“However, romantic partnerships are also difficult to maintain—divorce rates are between 40% and 50% in North America (Amato, 2010; Kelly, 2015)—and even among couples who stay together, satisfaction and sexual desire tend to decline over time, often after the first year (Klusmann, 2002; McNulty et al., 2016; Schmiedeb…”

“Recent developments in family structure in the United States There are a number of gaps in the current literature on family structure and child behavior, namely, its focus on White, middle-class families and married couples raising their biological children (Amato, 2010).”

“Additionally, approximately half of first marriages today end in divorce, which is more than double the divorce rate of 1960 (Amato, 2010; Celebrezze & Terry, 1964).”

“Divorce-related research conducted to understand how men versus women adjust has shown that the effects on mental health for either gender have appeared to be comparable (Amato, 2010).”

“Life returning apparently to the right rails does not necessarily cool down those inner tumults of feelings that people experience after a divorce, however (Amato, 2010).”

“…both short- and long-term stresses following a divorce that increase a child’s risk for emotional and interpersonal problems, while adjustment may happen quickly with fewer negative outcomes or more slowly with consequences that impact adulthood, depending on moderating factors (Amato, 2000, 2010).”

“Although Amato (2010) has pointed out that changes in the population age structure and proportions of the married population would affect the accuracy of the CDRs, the extent to which the CDRs have been distorted by these compositional factors is still unknown.”

“I incorporate demographic and socioeconomic variables that prior research identified as determinants or predictors of divorce—education, race and ethnic origin, number of children, age, marital history, and household income (Amato, 2010; Casper & Bianchi, 2001; Cherlin, 1992).”

“The well-being of children with separated or divorced parents is at threat from stressors affecting parents and children (e.g., Amato 2010).”

“One important issue for family social capital relates to remarriage after divorce (Amato, 2010; Sweeney, 2010).”

“We included eight control variables in the regression analyses, described below, that researchers have previously found to affect postdivorce coparenting (see Amato, 2010; Lansford, 2009).”

“This distinction is in accordance with the results of studies by Halford and Sweeper (2013) and Amato (2010), which indicate that the greatest overall psychological and social improvement in the adjustment to this new situation occurs during the first 2 years after the divorce.”

“Previous studies consistently show that children from non-intact families are disadvantaged on a variety of outcomes (e.g., Amato 2010), including emotional and psychological wellbeing (e.g., Amato and Sobolewski 2001; Barrett and Turner 16 Post-Divorce Dual-Household Living Arrangements…”

“Low income and low education are major risk factors for divorce (Amato, 2010; Härkönen & Dronkers, 2006).”

“Research still indicates second marriages end more quickly and more often, at a rate 10% higher than first marriages (Amato, 2010).”

“…dependent and explanatory variables: a number of characteristics can be expected to be related to both the likelihood of relationship dissolution (Amato, 2010; Seltzer, 2000; White, 1990), and to how couples arrange their social context, for instance, in terms of frequency of contact with…”

“The aim of this longitudinal fixed-effects (FE) linear regression for the time period from 1984 to 2011 is to distinguish between the effects on health satisfaction and well-being due to separation (Amato 2010, Lucas 2007, Andreß et al.”

“Results of such investigations have revealed a wide variety of risk factors that increase the likelihood of marital discord and divorce among married couples (Amato, 2010; Amato & Hohmann-Marriott, 2007; Amato & Previti, 2003; Clements, Stanley, & Markman, 2004; Lavner & Bradbury, 2011).”

“…argued that children in post-divorced families may develop resilience and skills in social navigation and, in relation to studies of siblings, that their relationships can be strengthened rather than challenged by family changes (Amato, 1993, 2010; Buysse et al., 2012; Ehrenberg and Regev, 2011).”

“Prior research has shown that couples with fewer economic resources are more likely to separate (Amato, 2010).”

“parent) – two factors that play an important role in individuals’ post-separation residential mobility (Thomas, Mulder, and Cooke 2017) and well-being (Amato 2010).”

“The detrimental impact on child well-being of marital disruption through divorce or widowhood has been extensively documented in Western societies (Amato, 2010; Anthony et al., 2014; Biblarz & Gottainer, 2000; Kim, 2011; Magnuson & Berger, 2009; Sun & Li, 2011; Sweeney, 2010).”

“…and home environments since the 1960s has been the increase in parental separation (Cherlin, 2010), which has been shown to be negatively associated with children’s school performance (see Amato & Keith, 1991; Amato, 2001 for meta-analyses; see Amato, 2000, 2010; Raley & Sweeney, 2020 for reviews).”

“How associations between divorce and health behavior differ by gender is inconclusive (Amato 2010), but men may be more likely to use alcohol to cope with divorce (Pudrovska and Carr 2008).”

“…of marital stability highlighted a range of predictive characteristics including, inter alia, the prevalence of financial issues, spouses ’ socioeconomic background including parental separation, or ownership and level of specific assets or liabilities (Amato, 2010; Dew, 2011; Eads & Tach, 2016).”

“The correlation between divorce and mental health is well-established [1-7].”

“The weakest impact was found for the same trajectory but in relation to adolescents’ self-esteem. family instability (Fomby & Cherlin, 2007) and the multiple-transition perspective (Amato, 2010).”

“A large number of previous studies have examined the determinants of union dissolution, including couples’ employment situations, income levels, education and demographic situations (Lyngstad and Jalovaara 2010; Amato 2010; Härkönen 2014).”

“Given its association with divorce in past studies (see Amato, 2010), we also include a dummy variable for cohabitation prior to marriage (1 = cohabited; 0 = did not cohabit).2 Recognizing the importance of economic factors for marriage formation and dissolution, in all models we include family…”

“Importantly, this type of environment can stymie a child’s ability to adjust to parental separation (24, 42) and can increase the risk for future morbidity (43, 44).”

“…2000), scholars also recognize the need to better understand the heterogeneity of outcomes according to individuals’ and couples’ characteristics (Amato, 2010), its evolution over time (Bauer et al., 2015; Clark and Georgellis, 2013; Rudolf and Kang, 2011), and the channels driving such…”

“Nevertheless, despite the substantial emerging evidence of the importance of the paternal figure for children’s development (Amato, 2010; Amato & Dorius, 2010; Target & Fonagy, 2002), for many years the significance of the paternal figure was virtually absent from both researchers’ and…”

“Although many families manage the transition of divorce well (Amato, 2010), others become mired in stress and strain (Lucas, 2005).”

“, > 12 months) which raises the question as to what predicts poor outcomes such as physical illness and psychopathology (including disordered gambling) following divorce [3].”

“However, other researchers have suggested that an individual’s ability to adjust post-divorce is dependent on their perception of the divorce process (Amato, 2010; Sbarra & Hazan, 2008; Wang & Amato, 2000).”

“Although most children adapt well after parental divorce (28) and some even show improved well-being (29), numerous studies document that children from divorced families are at higher short- and long-term risk of internalizing and”

“Finally, past studies have tended to focus on average levels of adjustment comparing divorced and married samples (Amato, 2010); we use prospective methods to explore variability among divorcing women due to moderating contextual factors.”

“In North America, relationship distress is estimated to affect between 20 to 31% of couples (Whisman, Beach, & Snyder, 2008) and 40 to 50% of marriages would end in divorce (Amato, 2010).”

“Negative selection is consistent with the demographics of those who divorce (Amato 2010).”

“Earlier research on the predictors of divorce over time has already interpreted changes in their effects from a social exchange perspective (Amato, 2010; De Graaf and Kalmijn, 2006; Dronkers and Härkönen, 2008; Härkonen and Dronkers, 2006; Kamp Dush et al., 2003; Liefbroer and Dourleijn, 2006; Matysiak et al., 2013; T…”

“There is a vast literature on the trends and patterns of divorce in industrialized countries (Amato 2010; Lyngstad and Jalovaara 2010).”

“Embedded within the divorce-stressadjustment framework are two contrary models that determine whether the negative outcomes of dissolutions are only temporary or persist more or less indefinitely (Amato, 2000, 2010; Raley and Sweeney, 2020; Whisman et al., 2022).”

“Research into the effects on mental health of divorce is abundant and indicates higher levels of depression, stress, and fear, as well as lower levels of self-esteem among the divorced, compared to the married (Amato, 2010; Symoens, Van de Velde, Colman, & Bracke, 2013; Williams & Dunne Bryant, 2006).”

“While much of the early research indicated that growing up in a single-parent household represents a risk for children’s development, over the past two decades, greater emphasis has been placed on the diversity of outcomes that children display, changes over time in adjustment to family transitions, and the role that…”

“poverty are major environmental risk factors that increase the burden of mental illness in children (Brooks-Gunn and Duncan 1997; Caspi et al. 2000; Yeung et al. 2002; Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn 2003; Xue et al. 2005; Amato 2010), in this study, there was not a direct relationship between neighborhood and prosocial beh…”

“adjust to this, and the strength of the co-parenting alliance have been found to be two of the most significant factors contributing to children’s well-being following a divorce (Amato, 2010; Emery, 2011; Hetherington & Stanley-Hagan, 1999).”

“Decades of research have identified conflict between parents as a main risk factor in children’s adaptation after parental separation (Amato, 2001, 2010; Ayoub, Deutsch, & Maraganore, 1999; Bing, Nelson, & Wesolowski, 2009; Davies & Cummings, 1994; Fabricius & Luecken, 2007; Grych & Fincham, 1990;…”

“2015; Oppenheimer 1997), child development (Amato 2010; Härkönen et al.”

“…that greater exposure to relationship transitions and household instability are associated with greater problems in children’s adjustment (Amato, 2010; Bulanda & Manning, 2008; Capaldi & Patterson, 1991; Cavanagh, Crissey, & Raley, 2008; Cavanagh & Huston, 2008; Fomby & Cherlin, 2007;…”

“attention has been devoted to studying the benefits of marriage, both for individuals (Amato, 2010; Hawkins & Booth, 2005; Johnson & Wu, 2002) and society more generally (McLanahan, Amato, & Furstenberg, 2007).”

“Existing research on the effects of divorce on child well-being suggests that, on average, divorce is associated with negative effects on children’s academic, social, and behavioral outcomes (for reviews, see Amato, 2000, 2001, 2010; Amato & Keith, 1991; Demo & Fine, 2010; McLanahan et al., 2013).”

“across a number of studies (Amato, 2010) concern-”

“…when income pooling comes to an end (in case of divorce, for instance), women are more likely to suffer from adverse consequences, being the main caretakers for children (Uunk 2004, Andreß, Borgloh et al. 2006, Aassve, Betti et al. 2007, Amato 2010, Brady and Burroway 2012, Brewer and Nandi 2014).”

“A large body of research is based on populations in the United States, but other studies have confirmed similar results in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, including the Netherlands (e.g., Amato, 2010; Amato & James, 2010; Pedro-Carroll & Klein Velderman, 2015; Spruijt & Kormos, 2014).”

“Wealth and education are also important contributory factors to marital stability (Amato 2010).”

“Since separation was found to have similar repercussions regardless of whether the broken relationship was a marriage or a (non-marital) cohabitation (Amato, 2010; Wu & Hart, 2002), we decided to focus on both events preventing the systematic exclusion of people living in a non-marital relationship.”