Parental divorce, personal psychological resources, and relational perspectives among college students
Abstract
This study examined the potential associations between personal psychological resources (i.e., insight, hardiness, perceived gains associated with parental divorce) and relational perspectives (i.e., posttraumatic growth, commitment to marriage, attitudes toward divorce) among a group of college-age adults whose parents had divorced. The results indicated positive and significant associations among insight, hardiness, perceived gains, posttraumatic growth, commitment to marriage, and attitudes toward divorce. Study analyses indicated that participants high on both insight and hardiness reported greater commitment to marriage than did those low on both insight and hardiness. Also, participants high on hardiness and perceived gains reported more posttraumatic growth than did their peers low on both hardiness and perceived gains. Finally, those who were low on hardiness but high on perceived gains reported more pro-divorce attitudes than did their peers who were high on hardiness but low on perceived gains. Findings from this study have important implications for clinical practice and research. Future research might focus on studying insight and hardiness as they specifically relate to parental divorce versus their use as more general constructs. Students seeking counseling services with concerns regarding parental divorce or their own future marriages might benefit from clinical interventions aimed to increase insight (e.g., how their own thoughts and feelings about marriage are similar to or different from those of their parents), increase a sense of hardiness, and identify gains that have resulted following their parents' divorce.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Servaty-Seib, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Counseling Psychology|Individual & family studies
Off-Campus Purdue Users:
To access this dissertation, please log in to our
proxy server.