Parental divorce and the well-being of children: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis involved 92 studies that compared children living in divorced single-parent families with children living in continuously intact families on measures of well-being. Children of divorce scored lower than children in intact families across a variety of outcomes, with the median effe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological bulletin Vol. 110; no. 1; p. 26
Main Authors Amato, P R, Keith, B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.1991
Subjects
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Divorce - psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Meta-Analysis as Topic
Parent-Child Relations
Personality Development
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Summary:This meta-analysis involved 92 studies that compared children living in divorced single-parent families with children living in continuously intact families on measures of well-being. Children of divorce scored lower than children in intact families across a variety of outcomes, with the median effect size being .14 of a standard deviation. For some outcomes, methodologically sophisticated studies yielded weaker effect sizes than did other studies. In addition, for some outcomes, more recent studies yielded weaker effect sizes than did studies carried out during earlier decades. Some support was found for theoretical perspectives emphasizing parental absence and economic disadvantage, but the most consistent support was found for a family conflict perspective.
ISSN:0033-2909
DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.26