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Parental
Divorce May
Affect a Women's Love Life
Excerpt
By Melissa Schorr, Reuters Health Writer
NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Young women whose parents are divorced have less satisfaction
and trust and more conflict in their current dating relationships
than do their peers whose parents are still together, study results
suggest.
``Children
of divorce see the limitations of relationships and don't go into
it with rose-colored glasses,'' lead author Dr. Susan E. Jacquet,
of the California Social Work Education Center in Berkeley, told
Reuters Health. ``They quite easily could be more cautious, and
don't jump in with both feet into the deep end.''
The researchers
studied a random sample of 232 heterosexual couples ages 19 to
35 to see whether parental divorce affected the quality of their
own dating relationships.
Divorce seemed
to have a stronger effect overall on the quality of the young
women's relationships than the young men's. Compared with women
of non-divorced parents, women of divorced parents were more likely
to report a lack of trust in their partner, uncertainty about
becoming involved, and less satisfaction in their relationship.
The findings
are published in the August issue of the Journal of Marriage and
Family.
``Women are
socialized to pay attention to relationships more than men,''
Jacquet said. ``Because women are focused on characteristics of
the relationship, they think about it more, and they're more concerned
about trust.''
Women who
had divorced parents were also more likely to value the concept
of commitment less than women of non-divorced parents, the investigators
found.
However, these
findings may not necessarily be all negative, Jacquet pointed
out.
``Why do we
always think something is pathological?'' she said. ``These people
(may be) becoming more cautious and thoughtful, rather than just
jumping into a relationship. The fact that women are more hesitant
to trust may mean they're a bit more cautious and that they're
paying more attention before they move on to more advanced stages
of the relationship.''
Similarly,
she said, the fact the women with divorced parents report more
conflict may mean they are negotiating aspects of the relationship
before they commit. The fact that these women report lower satisfaction
may mean they are not quite so willing to settle, according to
Jacquet.
The study
also found some effects of divorce on male partners. Men of divorced
parents reported investing more money and ``tangible goods'' in
their relationships than men of non-divorced parents did.
Men were also
more likely to report feelings of trust in their partner's kindness
when their female partner came from an intact family rather than
from one affected by divorce.
Overall, parental
divorce showed the strongest effects among couples who were casually
dating, rather than seriously involved. This suggests that couples
with divorced parents may be more likely to enter a relationship
with an established outlook on romantic relationships in general--feeling,
for example, negativity or pragmatic realism.
``Divorce
plays a role in future romance,'' Jacquet said. ``It can have
a positive influence as likely as it can have a negative influence.''
SOURCE:
Journal of Marriage and Family 2001;63:627-638.
Reference
Source 89
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