Adolescents and their Families After Divorce: Three Residential Arrangements Compared

Abstract

Adolescent adjustment and family processes 4 1/2 years after parental separation were examined through telephone interviews with 517 adolescents (10 1/2 to 18 years old) living in mother, father, or dual residence. Residence differences in adjustment were small in magnitude, with adolescents in father residence adjusting somewhat more poorly than adolescents in other arrangements, especially in comparison to dual-resident adolescents. The link between residence and adjustment was primarily indirect, mediated by differences in closeness to and monitoring by the residential parent. Father residence was directly related to poorer adjustment only for certain subgroups of adolescents: Those who had shifted residences one or more times since parental separation, and those whose parents were still hostile 3 1/2 years after separation.