Parental Divorce Case Study

Parental divorce is experienced by over 1 million American children every year and the percentage of those who come from divorced families is at a constant rise (Fackrell, Poulsen, Busby, Dollahite, 2011). Children often experience the brunt of their parent’s conflict during divorce and internalize those feelings far into adulthood. When comparing children of divorce to those from intact families, it was found that it can negatively affect achievement level in school, behavior issues, emotional problems, self-esteem, and their future interpersonal relationships (Amato & Sobolewski, 2001; Cui & Fincham, 2010). In a study done in 2011 by Fackrell, Poulsen, Busby, and Dollahite; it was discovered that children of divorce also have been found

This aim of this study is to examine whether people with divorced parents, have a lower relationship satisfaction with their partners compared to people whose parents are not divorced. Relationship satisfaction is the degree to which a person is content with their partner in regards to their intimate relationship (frequency of conflict, and intimacy) (Funk & Rogge, 2007) The importance of understanding relationship satisfaction allows us to get a greater understanding of the true effect that parental divorce has on their children’s future intimate relationships. If this is indeed the case, then we may be able to counteract this growing problem in the world by working on ways to boost relationship satisfaction of those who come from divorced families. Those children from divorced families, would then be able to better understand how parental divorce may affect their future relationships and work on ways to diminish those effects. The independent variable in this case would be the parental divorce, while the dependent variable would be their relationship

Inferring from this, children may have their behavior or ideas about romantic relationships shaped by observing the martial interactions of their parents. In the case of divorce; conflict behaviors such as arguing, lying, and hiding are learned from their parents which can then shape their children’s future romantic relationships (Cui & Fincham, 2010). Within the Social Learning Theory, it is also suggested that children can develop their attitudes toward marriage and divorce from their families. Much like learning behaviors, one’s attitudes may also negatively affect how they approach their future relationships. If a child witnesses their parents’ marriage end in divorce, it is likely that their attitudes about what happened will affect their own romantic relationships through their commitment to that relationship (Cui & Fincham, 2010). Based on the Social Learning Theory, it is likely that parental divorce may influence the romantic relationships of their children in a negative way; based upon the behaviors witnessed and attitudes toward the divorce. Through this understanding of the Social Learning Theory, one may infer that parental divorce may also affect their children’s future relationship satisfaction.