Running head: DIVORCE

Attachment Style and Parental Conflict: A Comparative Study Concerning Young Adults from Intact and Divorced Families

Carolyn Veronica Piliero

State University of New York New Paltz

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare college students from intact and divorced families on attachment styles, romantic beliefs, views towards marriage, and emotional satisfaction. A sample of twenty participants was surveyed by means of a thirty-question questionnaire that included self-report questions and likert scale ratings. I predicted that high-frequency familial conflict and parent-child attachment styles strongly impact young adult’s attitudes toward marriage. Young adults from intact/high conflict households should not differ when compared to peers from divorced families. Young adults from intact/happy homes should feel the most emotional satisfaction and have more positive attitudes towards marriage. None of these predictions were supported with the data from this survey.

Attachment Style and Parental Conflict: A Comparative Study Concerning Young Adults From Intact and Divorced Families

In the past two decades, the structure of the American family has changed tremendously. Traditional nuclear families are failing and it is estimated that 50 to 67% of first marriages end in divorce (Gottman, 1998). Divorce, which had previously been viewed as taboo, is becoming culturally accepted. Research in familial conflict, the precursor to divorce, is beneficial to society at large. Data from such studies can help outline methods to assist families in crisis cope with the stress that comes with conflict. Conclusions based on studies that deal with situations preceding divorce have the ability to help minimize the negative effects family conflict and divorce can have on children’s psychological development.

Allison Kirk’s (2002) study on The Effects of Divorce on Young Adults’ Relationship Competence found that divorce in itself was not solely responsible for maladjustment in young adults. Parental conflict, characterized by a combination of events (violence, infidelity, parental dissatisfaction) prior to divorce was accountable for disturbances in childhood, which continued into young adulthood. Kirk (2002) hypothesized that divorce had a “sleeper effect” on children and that the full range of issues stemming from the event could not be gauged until young adulthood. This study also examined friendships to see whether they could serve as a buffer for conflicts in the family. The findings of this study do not substantiate the claim that young adults from divorced families view their romantic relationships, self-esteem, and ideas regarding intimacy differently than young adults from intact families. Kirk was unable to find support for her hypothesis that parental divorce had a negative effect on relationship competence. However, divorce was found to affect fears and expectations for divorce in the young adult’s personal life. This study did support the finding that young adults from divorced families are less optimistic and more fearful about marriage.

Burgoyne and Hames (2002) studied adolescents in the United Kingdom between the ages of 18 and 24 from divorced and intact families. They sought to find how these young adults felt about marriage and assessed their future marital intentions. The majority of respondents (99%) from this study believed that they would marry at some point. All of the participants (N=20) believed that marriage was a serious endeavor that was not to be entered into without serious consideration. Participants differed in how they spoke about marriage. Participants that came from families that were intact and happy thought of marriage in “romantic” terms compared to participants from divorced families who thought about marriage “realistically.”

Face (1997) studied the relationship between attachment styles, divorce, and sexual behavior. She found that participants who had experienced divorce became sexually active earlier than their peers from intact homes. Young adults from divorced families were also found to have a greater number of sexual partners throughout their lifetime than their counterparts. Children with secure attachment styles were more likely to have long-term relationships and a positive view of marriage when compared to those with avoidant attachment styles. Young adults with anxious/ambivalent attachment styles had a more positive view towards marriage if their families were intact and happy.

Sprecher (1998) examined 1,000 college students from intact and divorced families and their beliefs and attitudes concerning love and romantic relationships. Groups were analyzed based on their differences regarding attachment types, love styles, and romantic beliefs. This research found modest differences between the two groups. However, Sprecher’s findings show associations between parent’s marital status and beliefs about love, which differed for males and females. This study is consistent with Adult Attachment Theory because females from intact marriages had more secure attachment styles when compared to females from divorced families. Women from intact families tended to idealize marriage more than females from divorced families. The largest difference found in this study was between young adults from intact and happily married homes and young adults from divorced homes. These findings suggest that the quality of marriage is the most important factor in the transition of functional love beliefs.

Kelly’s (2000) study reviews the past ten years of research on divorce and the effects it has on psychological development. In her study Kelly investigates the impact of martial problems on children and young adults, which are often seen in the years preceding a divorce. Such problems include martial conflict, violence, and related parenting behaviors. From her study Kelly concluded that the long-term outcome of divorce is resiliency rather than dysfunction. Young adults from high-conflict families who divorced were better adjusted than their counterparts whose high-conflict parents did not divorce. Lingering effects of divorce in adulthood were found to be in educational attainment, which had a direct influence on occupational achievement. The outcome of Kelly’s (2000) research review was more cohesion amongst the vast array of literature and research on the topic of divorce and the impact it has on young adults.

Face (1997) and Sprecher (1998) both reviewed childhood attachment style and how parental divorce affected grown children’s attitudes towards intimate relationships. Face went a step further and investigated how divorce affected young adult’s sexual behavior. Sprecher examined the attitudes of grown adults from divorced families and how attachment styles affected their romantic relationships. Sprecher did not ask participants about their sexual practices or the number of lifetime sexual partners. Because Sprecher’s study did not look at sexual behavior it is not able to analyze the full effect that divorce can have on adolescents and young adults.

Kelly’s review of literature was able to organize a decade’s worth of research on divorce and its effect on adolescents and young adults. From this study, it can be concluded that children from divorced homes are at a greater risk for developing psychological adjustment problems than those who come from intact families. However, data from this study suggests that these problems are not the outcome of divorce; rather they are the culmination of years of familial conflict.

Burgoyne and Hames looked at adolescents (from intact and divorced families) attitudes towards marriage. Their findings indicate that adolescents from intact homes associate marriage with romance. Their peers from divorced families claimed to have a more realistic view of marriage. Attitudes towards marriage are just a piece of the puzzle in terms of the outcome of divorce has on young adults. For a more comprehensive examination of the effect of divorce on young adults, attachment styles and sexual behavior must also be looked at. Research that would include the various parts of the experiments discussed here would help make better treatment available to those who are having adjustment issues and would allow clinicians to pinpoint the source of an individual’s trouble.

I intend to design a research study using self-report surveys. To gain insight into the participants lives, questions would cover attachment style, as well as attitudes and beliefs toward marriage and most importantly perceived parental conflict. Young adults from divorced families will be compared to their peers from intact families. The goal of this study is to put together the research from previous inquiries in hopes to paint a more comprehensive picture.

My hypothesis is that high-frequency familial conflict and parent-child attachment styles strongly impact young adult’s attitudes toward marriage. Young adults from intact/high conflict households should not differ when compared to peers from divorced families. Young adults from intact/happy homes should feel the most emotional satisfaction and have more positive attitudes towards marriage.

Method

Participants This survey included twenty participants (ten male and ten female) between the ages of 18 and 23 (M=21.0, SD= 1.40). The participants were broken down into four groups (each containing five participants) based on sex and parental marital status (Married and Divorced). This survey was open to all races and religious backgrounds.

Materials The same thirty-question survey was given to all groups. Questions on the survey covered attachment style, sexual behavior, as well as attitudes toward marriage based on the participant’s personal experience. Self-report questions were meant to assess the amount of perceived parental conflict that took place in the participant’s home (See Appendix A).

Procedure Participants were selected randomly based on whether their parents are divorced. There were five females and five males in each group. Consent was inferred from participation in the research study. Besides an explanation of the study no formal debriefing was required.

Results

Descriptive statistics were run to describe the sample’s relationship history. The mean age of divorce for the sample is 9.7 years (SD= 5.73). The average family consisted of 3.6 people (SD=1.31). The mean G.P.A. for the sample was 3.26 (SD= .38). On average, participants became sexually active at 17.11 years (SD= 1.50). To help analyze the data, transformations were used on the different variables. Questions geared to assess participant’s attitudes towards marriage and romantic beliefs were added together into a single variable called “Romance.”

It was predicted that the level of parental conflict during childhood would affect participant’s romantic beliefs as young adults. An independent samples t-test was conducted in SPSS comparing responses regarding whether or not the participant’s parents fought a lot while they were children (M= 19.67; SD= 2.10) to romantic beliefs (variable Romance) (M=20.80; SD= 2.70); t(17)= -.96, p=. 35. The results show that there are no differences in romantic beliefs based on the level of conflict.

It was predicted that the level of current parental conflict would affect participant’s romantic beliefs as young adults. An independent samples t-test was conducted in SPSS comparing responses concerning participant’s parents and if they currently fought a lot (M= 20.0; SD= 2.90) to romantic beliefs (variable Romance) (M=21.0; SD= 1.93); t(17)= -.90, p=.38. The results show that there are no differences in romantic beliefs based on the conflict assessed by question 19.

It was predicted that parental marital status and the quality of the relationship would have an effect on participant’s romantic beliefs. A one-way ANOVA was conducted in SPSS to analyze the effect of current parental marital status and respondent’s romantic beliefs: happily married (M= 21.25; SD= 2.05), married but not happily (M=20.50; SD 2.12), divorced (M= 19.67; SD 2.48), F (2, 16)= .851, p= .45. The results show no difference based on the current parental marital status and romantic beliefs.

It was predicted that attachment style would impact romantic beliefs. I proposed that participants with a secure attachment style would have the highest romantic beliefs. In this sample 25% of participants had an anxious attachment style, 60% had secure attachment styles, and 15% had ambivalent attachment styles. A one-way ANOVA was conducted in SPSS to analyze the effect attachment style has on romantic beliefs: anxious (M= 21.0, SD= 1.92), secure (M=20.64, SD= 2.16), and ambivalent (M= 19.0, SD= 2.45), F (2, 16)= .564, p= .580. No significance differences were found between attachment style and parental marital status.

Further, it was predicted that parental marital status would have an effect on participant’s level of emotional satisfaction. A one-way ANOVA was conducted in SPSS to analyze respondent’s emotional satisfaction based on current parental marital status (happily married M= 1.63; SD= .52), (married but not happily M=1.50; SD .71), (divorced M= 1.44; SD .53), F=(2, .24), p= .79. The results found no difference in respondents emotional satisfaction based on current parental marital status. The results are not significant.

Discussion

This research study hypothesized that high-frequency familial conflict and parent-child attachment styles strongly impact young adult’s attitudes toward marriage. Young adults from intact/high conflict households should not differ when compared to peers from divorced families. Young adults from intact/happy homes should feel the most emotional satisfaction and have more positive attitudes towards marriage.

The findings from this study resemble Kirk’s (2002) experiment because they also do not substantiate the claim that young adults from divorced families view their romantic relationships, self-esteem, and ideas regarding intimacy differently than young adults from intact families. Respondents in this study support the belief that divorce is no longer seen as taboo. Every respondent in the survey when asked their views on the acceptability of divorce on a likert scale at least moderately agreed that divorce is an acceptable part of today’s society. As opposed to Kelly’s (2000) research summary, the findings of this study do not conclude or suggest that either divorce or familial conflict leading to divorce had a negative impact on young adults. Only two respondents in this study were not sexually active. Both were from intact happy homes. Every respondent wanted to marry at some point regardless of his or her parent’s marital status.

There was no statistical significance found in any analysis run on this data, however, this does not mean that the stated hypotheses should be rejected. If the conditions of this research study could be improved it is possible that the findings could be significant. Random selection could not be used due to the nature of the class experiment. With a larger sample that was overall more characteristic of the population, support for the predictions might have been found. If this study were repeated the surveys could be improved by rewording some of the questions so that they are clearer. Limitations of this study included the sample of participants. Because this experiment was done in a college setting random selection was not an option. The participants in this study include my friends and acquaintances. I had a lot of trouble finding divorced males to participant in this experiment. However, there were an abundance of females willing to participate and I had to turn many down to have an even sex ratio. In the future this research study could be redone. Changes to the experiment that would hopefully increase significance should include a sample more characteristic of the population and a new survey. The survey I created is a starting point. If I were to redo this experiment I would make the questions more specific. Many respondents had trouble understanding what the questions were asking or they tried reading into the questions rather than simply answering what was being asked.

The implications of this study are that divorce does not have a negative effect on young adults. For this experiment it can be inferred that parental conflict during childhood does not have an effect on young adult’s romantic beliefs. Current parental conflict also does not have an effect on young adult’s romantic beliefs. Parental marital status does not have an effect on romantic beliefs or young adult’s emotional satisfaction. Further, attachment style has no impact on romantic beliefs. This particular study is not able to help society because no significance was found amongst any of the predictions. However, future studies could help find which aspects of parental marital conflict and divorce cause disruptions in childhood that continue into young adulthood. This knowledge could help parents and children cope with familial conflict and problems proceeding and following divorce.

References

Burgoyne, C and Hames, R. (2002). Views of marriage and divorce: An in-depth study of

young adults’ from intact and divorced families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 37(1-2), 75-100.

Face, J. (1997). The relationship between attachment style and experiencing a

parental divorce during childhood with courtship attitudes and behaviors in

young adulthood. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 58(5-B), 2749.

Kelly, J. (2000). Children’s adjustment in conflicted marriage and divorce:

A decade review of research. Journal of the American Academy of Child and

Adolescent Psychiatry, 39(i8), 963.

Kirk, A. (2002). The effects of divorce of young adults’ relationship

competence: The influence of intimate friendships. Journal of Divorce and

Remarriage, 38(1-2), 61-90.

Sprecher, S. (1998). Parental divorce and young adults’ beliefs about love.

Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 28(3-4), 107-120.

Appendix A

The purpose of this study is to gather information about college student’s feelings and thoughts about themselves, their friendships, and their romantic relationships.

By filling out this survey you are consenting to be a participant in this psychological experiment. Participation is optional and you may withdraw without penalty at anytime. Your part in this study is confidential. None of the information will identify you by name. All records will be destroyed after statistical analysis.

Gender:

Age:

Year in school:

1^st Year Sophomore Junior Senior

Other (please specify) _____________

GPA: _____________

Parents marital status (circle either married or divorced [if parents are separated circle divorced]): Married / Divorced

If divorced, what was your age at the time of the divorce? _________________

Number of people in your immediate household at home (Including yourself):

___________

1. What is the current status of your parent’s marriage (Please select only one):

(1) Happily married; (2) married, but not very happily; (3) separated; (4) divorced

2. If I love someone, I know I can make the relationship work, despite any obstacles.

1 2 3 4 5