The impact of marital quality, divorce and remarriage on the relationshipsbetween parents and their children

This paper examines data from a panel study on the long-term effects of par ental marital quality and divorce on relationships between parents and adul t children. Attention is focused on whether these effects vary by age and g ender of child as well as the theoretical explanations linking mother-fathe r and parent-child relations. The relational quality between adult children (18-31 years old) and both mothers and fathers is examined from the perspe ctive of both children and parents. Among intact families, parental marital quality has long-term effects on father-child relations, regardless of gen der, whereas short-term effects are characteristic of mother-child relation s and only perceived by mothers. Further, although divorce without remarria ge hurts sons' relationships with both fathers and mothers, it hurts father -daughter relations even more. Mother-daughter bonds appear to be improved by divorce, with declines in income explaining a large portion of the tende ncy for divorce to affect father-child relations.