Parental addiction, conflicts and marital disruption: perception of adult children of divorced parents

Divorce is a stressful event often combined with spouse conflict which significantly affects the way children experience the consequences of family reorganization. Various factors contribute to the impact of divorce on child development, one of the most decisive being the quality of parental relationship prior to, during and after divorce. The article addresses one main question how spouses’ conflict during the process of divorce is intertwined with a child’s experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 adult children (7 men and 13 women) from divorced families. Adults ranged in age 21 to 42 years old. Five to twenty years passed from their parents’ divorce. The results show that in the cases of violent parents’ relationships or family relationships with addiction prior to divorce, the participants experienced relief when the nuclear family dissolved; however, in most cases conflict between parents persisted after divorce, the child being torn between both parents. When the conflict between the parents is combined with various addictions, the consequences for the child are even more devastating. In most cases, children were left to themselves. The findings of this study can therefore contribute to creating various forms of educational, consulting, or therapeutic help.

Marital Conflict, Anger Expression, and Marital Instability: Associations by Age and Culture

Positive social relationships, such as high-quality marriages, are associated with better health, especially among older adults. Moreover, negative components in marriages (i.e., disagreements and associated emotional responses) are linked to negative outcomes such as marital disruption (McGonagle et al., 1993) and divorce (Markman et al., 2010). Factors such as marital conflicts and emotion expression threaten marital stability and health and have been shown to decrease with age and in collectivist cultures (i.e., Japan compared to U.S.; Kitayama et al., 2015; Matsunaga & Imahori, 2009). While anger has featured as a specific emotion associated with compromised health and marital quality (Carrère et al., 2005), less is known about how marital conflict and the expression of anger may contribute to marital instability in later life, or differences in these links across age and culture. Using data from married respondents participating in the second wave of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS, n=750, Mage=55.18, SD=11.5, %Female=50.13%) study or first wave of the Midlife in Japan (MIDJA; n=706, Mage=55.26, SD=13.68, %Female=47.73%) studies, we examined associations between disagreements, anger expression, and marital risk. Preliminary analyses revealed that marital disagreements and anger expression were each associated with increased marital instability in both the MIDUS and MIDJA samples (ps<.05). Additionally, the effects of marital disagreements and anger expression did not differ between the two samples or as a function of age. Discussion will focus on the relevance of expression and regulation of emotions for understanding marital (in)stability in midlife and aging and across cultures.

A change is (not) gonna come: a 20-year overview of Italian grandparent–grandchild exchanges

Levels of coresidence, residential proximity, face-to-face contacts and intergenerational support exchanges remain overall high and stable across European countries. However, to date, few studies have focused on trends in grandparent–grandchild relations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether and to what extent grandparent–grandchild exchanges have changed over time. We used data from the Italian Family and Social Subjects (FSS) Surveys, covering the years 1998–2016, and considered three different currencies of exchanges between grandparents and their grandchildren (coresidence, face-to-face contacts, and grandchild care provision). Our results showed stability over time in coresidence, a small reduction in daily contacts (from 47% in 1998 to 39% in 2016) and an increase in grandchildren care (from 78% in 1998 to 82% in 2016). In addition, we found little changes in the associations between such indicators of intergenerational exchanges and the demographic and socio-economic determinants usually used to explain them. Despite changes among Italian grandparents such as increases in their age profile, in education, and in marital disruption, the relations between grandparents and their grandchildren have so far remained stable over time, with generally high levels of intergenerational exchanges.

Effects of divorce and widowhood on subsequent health behaviours and outcomes in a sample of middle-aged and older Australian adults

Marital disruption is a common life event with potential health implications. We examined the prospective association of divorce/widowhood with subsequent lifestyles, psychological, and overall health outcomes within short and longer terms using three waves of data from the 45 and Up Study in Australia (T1, 2006–09; T2, 2010; T3, 2012–16). Marital status and health-related outcomes were self-reported using validated questionnaires. Nine outcomes were examined including lifestyles (smoking, drinking, diet and physical activity), psychological outcomes (distress, anxiety and depression) and overall health/quality of life. Logistic regression was adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and baseline health outcomes. Of the 33,184 participants who were married at T1 (mean age 59.5 ± 9.3 years), after 3.4 years, 2.9% became divorced and 2.4% widowed at T2. Recent divorce was positively associated with smoking, poor quality of life, high psychological distress, anxiety and depression at T2. Similar but weaker associations were observed for widowhood. However, these associations were much attenuated at T3 (5 years from T2). Marital disruption in midlife or at an older age can be detrimental to health, particularly psychological health in the short term. Public awareness of the health consequences of spousal loss should be raised. Resources, including professional support, should be allocated to help individuals navigate these difficult life transitions.

‘Take the Money and Run’: Dutch Evidence on Inheritance and Transfer Receiving and Divorce

This paper aims to investigate whether a wealth endowment, such as an inheritance or a gift, can increase the chances of getting divorced, using Dutch panel data for the period from 2002 to 2016. According to the literature, different factors may lead to the breakdown of a marriage; however, the role played by inherited wealth has never been explored so far. Starting from the idea that the receipt of an inheritance might have an impact on various aspects of an individual’s life, estimations of a Cox proportional hazard ratios model are performed and tests are carried out to establish which variables, with particular attention being given to inherited wealth, act as drivers in increasing the chances of withdrawing from a marriage. The findings suggest that when the wealth endowment has been received by the wife, this increases the chances of the couple separating. This signals that receiving an inheritance/gift changes the bargaining power between the couple: for the husband, it does not represent an incentive to divorce, while the results suggest that the wife might perceive a change in the bargaining power, increasing the likelihood of marital disruption.

A Change is (not) Gonna Come: A twenty-year overview of Italian grandparents-grandchildren exchanges

Levels of coresidence, residential proximity, face-to-face contacts and intergenerational support exchanges remain overall high and stable across European countries. However, to date, few studies have focused on trends in grandparent-grandchild relations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether and to what extent grandparent-grandchild exchanges have changed over time. We used data from the Italian Surveys on Family, covering the years 1998-2016, and considered three different currencies of exchanges between grandparents and their grandchildren (coresidence, face-to-face contacts, and grandchild care provision). Our results showed an astonishing stability over time in these indicators of grandparent-grandchild exchanges, with only a small reduction in daily contacts. Also, we found little changes in the associations between such indicators of intergenerational exchanges and the demographic and socio-economic determinants usually used to explain them. Despite changes among Italian grandparents such as increases in their age profile, in education, and in marital disruption, the relations between grandparents and their grandchildren remain stable over time with generally high levels of intergenerational exchanges.

The Ex-Factor: Examining the Gendered Effect of Divorce on Voter Turnout

The absence of a gendered analysis of the effect of marriage on voting is surprising, given researchers’ cognizance of the heterogeneous effects of marriage on a range of other social outcomes. In this paper, we shed new light on spousal dependency by studying the gendered impact of marital disruption, in the form of divorce, on voter turnout. First, drawing on Swedish population-wide registry data, we use the differential timing of divorces in relation to general elections to generate more credible estimates of the causal effect of divorce on turnout. Second, although we find that both sexes are strongly and adversely affected by divorce, we show that the effect is much more pronounced for men. Specifically, the long-term effect is almost twice as large for men. Finally, we use these, as well as a variety of additional data, to show that the gendered effect of divorce is mainly driven by asymmetrical spousal mobilization due to higher levels of voter turnout among women.

Marital Disruption, Remarriage and Child Well-being in China

Family changes in China are characterized by a dual rise in marital disruption and remarriage. However, the implications of these changes for child well-being remain understudied. I analyze data from the 2015 China Education Panel Survey to profile and explain well-being disparities between children in intact, disrupted, and remarried families. Child well-being is poorer in disrupted than in intact families. Remarriage, particularly of both parents, is associated with further harm to children’s well-being. Mothers’ remarriage is associated with a broader range and greater extent of damage to children’s well-being than that of fathers. Neither social selection nor economic and non-pecuniary resources explain poorer child well-being in disrupted families and stepfamilies than in intact families. Household structure only explains why children in disrupted families, but not in stepfamilies, fare less well than those in intact families. Variations in child well-being with parents’ marital status are consistently explained by poor parent–child relations and parental conflict. Reflecting on the theories of selectivity, resource deprivation, and structural instability, the findings highlight the need to consider China’s distinctive sociocultural and institutional settings in configuring the implications of ongoing family changes for child well-being.