RECONSIDERING THE EFFECTS OF MARITAL DISRUPTION - WHAT HAPPENS TO CHILDREN OF DIVORCE IN EARLY ADULTHOOD

This article identifies predivorce individual and family characteristi cs that explain a portion of the effect of parental separation on the long-term well-being of children. Using longitudinal data from the Nat ional Survey of Children (NSC) the authors discuss how much of the rel ationship between a separation and measures of adult well-being (inclu ding educational and economic attainment, patterns of family formation , delinquency and psychological well-being) is due to selectivity of p arents into more fragile marriages and to family conflict that often p recedes the physical departure of a parent from the household. The res ults of the study indicate that divorce is associated with some outcom es, although much of it, putative effect diminishes when predivorce fa ctors are accounted for. The authors suggest that researchers give mor e careful consideration to the processes leading up to a separation as part of the divorce experience of children