parents divorce while the children are still young do not seem to suffer in socioeconomic status as adults. However, a number of other studies provide evidence that the effects of divorce on children last well into adulthood. Amato and Keith report that adults who have experienced parental divorce exhibit lower levels of well-being than do adults whose parents were continuously married, and this applies to psychological adjustment, behavioural problems and educational attainment.264 According to Ross and Mirowski parental divorce has long-term negative consequences for children in the areas of socioeconomic status, interpersonal relationships, educational level, depression and divorce rate.265 They suppose that the depression is a direct result not of the divorce but of the lower socioeconomic status and problems in interpersonal relationships. Amato finds that children of divorced parents have lower educational levels throughout life, are more often jobless and are more likely to become single parents.266 Cherlin and others state that the children of divorced parents suffer from mental health problems that can last into their 20’a and 30’s.267 Kitson and Holmes indicate that the mental and emotional problems brought on by parental divorce decline in severity as children grow into adulthood, but in some children at least the effects are substantial even many years later.268 Aquilino reports that adult children’s relationship with the custodial parent is much the same as the relationship of children with parents in an intact family, but that their relationship with the non-custodial father is likely to be significantly worse.269 White on the other hand finds that the negative effect of divorce on parent-adult child
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Amato, Paul, & Bruce Keith, “Parental divorce and adult well-being: a meta-analysis” Journal of Marriage and Family 53(1991) 43-58. 265 Ross, Catherine, & John Mirowski, “Parental divorce, life-course disruption, and adult depression” Journal of Marriage and Family 61(1999) 1034-45. 266 Amato, Paul, “The post-divorce society: how divorce is shaping the family and other forms of social organization” in The Postdivorce Family: Children, Parenting and Society, Ross Thompson and Paul Amato, eds., Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, 1999, pp. 161-190. 267 Cherlin, Andrew, & others, “Effects of parental divorce on mental health throughout the life course” American Sociological Review 63(1998) 239-49. See also Amato, Paul, & Juliana Sobolewski, “The effects of divorce and marital discord on adult children’s psychological well-being” American Sociological Review 66(2001) 900-21, with additional bibliography. 268 Kitson, Gay C., & William M. Holmes, Portrait of Divorce: Adjustment to Marital Breakdown, New York, Guilford Press, c1992, Chapter Six. 269 See Aquilino, William, “Impact of childhood family disruption in young adults’ relationship with parents” Journal of Marriage and Family 56(1994) 295-313.
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