THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL COPING STRATEGIES AND CHILDRENS ADAPTIVE PROCESSES IN DIVORCED AND INTACT FAMILIES

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between paren tal coping strategies and children's coping strategies in both divorce d and intact families. The relationship between parental coping strate gies and social support within family social climate of both marital c onfigurations is also examined. Parent-child dyads from divorced homes (n = 61) and intact homes (n = 61) voluntarily participated in this s tudy. Significant relationships were observed between parental coping strategies, levels of cohesion in the family environment, and children 's coping strategies; however, these relationships were exclusive to d ivorced families. It was intriguing that parental coping efforts were found to be exclusively associated with children's maladaptive coping on a global level and did not appear to influence children's coping st rategies on a specific level.