LOCUS OF CONTROL AS A STRESS MODERATOR AND MEDIATOR IN CHILDREN OF DIVORCE

This paper examined the stress moderator and mediator effects of four dimensions of perceived control in children of divorce. The dimensions of locus of control included internal control for positive events, in ternal control for negative events, unknown control for positive event s, and unknown control for negative events. The sample consisted of 22 2 children between the ages of 8 and 12 whose parents had divorced in the previous 2 years. Moderational analyses showed that unknown contro l for positive events interacted with negative events to predict total symptoms. Plots of the simple slopes indicated a stress buffering eff ect whereby the slope of negative events on symptoms was higher for hi gh than for low levels of unknown control for positive events. Mediati onal analysis showed that the relations between negative events and sy mptoms were mediated by both unknown control for positive events and u nknown control for negative events. In contrast, evidence was not foun d for either a stress mediational or a moderational model for perceive d internal control for positive or negative events. These results sugg est that unknown control beliefs may be a particularly important dimen sion of control for children of divorce.