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Parenthood and Psychological Well-Being Among the Formerly Married

Are Children the Primary Source of Psychological Distress?

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Previous studies have found that children have a negative, albeit fairly weak, impact on the psychological well-being of parents. These studies have generally focused on married respondents and, to a somewhat lesser extent, unmarried women, but have generally ignored unmarried men. For the most part, studies of parenthood and well-being have not considered the issue of adult and/or absent children. Defining parenthood so it includes relations with adult children, absent children, and dependent children in the home, the present study compares the impact of parenthood on the well-being of formerly married men and women to that of married men and women. The findings confirm that nonparents experience better mental health than parents and further indicate that (1) variation in the parental role is more strongly associated with psychological well-being for men than for women, (2) parenthood is most strongly related to well-being among formerly married men, for whom the greatest problems occur with the presence of young children, (3) the negative effect of the absence of children on parents is greater than the effect of the presence of children for married men and formerly married women, and (4) much of the negative effect of being divorced or being widowed has to do with the impact of children on psychological well-being, particularly for men. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 10, No. 4, 463-481 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/019251389010004003


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