Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Online Divorce Education: Learning From Participants Who Want More, Joshua J. Turner, Kay Bradford, David G. Schramm, Brian J. Higginbotham, Olena Kopystynska, Melissa M. Ferguson

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Divorce education is designed for divorcing parents with minor children, and in a growing number of states, participation has become court-mandated to finalize a divorce. To increase accessibility, some states have adopted brief, online formats for divorce education programming. Evaluations are encouraging; however, less is known about how opinions on course length relate to participants' views on the benefits of their participation. This study analyzed qualitative data from parents (n = 41) who thought their mandated divorce education course was too short. Results indicate that participants thought the course increased their knowledge of divorce-related matters. They also suggested improvements related …

Evaluation Of Topics In Utah's One‐Hour Divorce Education Program, Olena Kopystynska, Joshua Turner, David G. Schramm, Brian Higginbotham

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Divorce education programs are mandatory in most states. Despite the ongoing debate in the field regarding the appropriate duration of these programs, the goal of the current study was to identify the following five content areas in divorce education that may be most relevant for predicting favorable outcomes: (1) impact of divorce on children, (2) impact of divorce on family relationships, (3) financial responsibilities of divorcing parents for children, (4) benefits of positive coparenting, and (5) impact of domestic violence on children and family relationships. Using divorcing parents' self‐reported data (N = 3,275) from a one‐hour online divorce education …

Relationship Maintenance Behaviors And Marital Stability In Remarriage: The Examination Of Stepfamily Constellations And Associated Challenges, Ron C. Bean

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research on stepfamily life in the 21^st century reveals unexplored variables at every turn. This is important because around half of American adults report close step-relationships and the challenges and demographic and relational differences for different types of stepfamilies remains unexplored. The first of these studies explored data for 879 husbands and wives couples to explore how positivity, negativity, and sexual interest levels differ depending which of the couple, both partners, or neither had previous children. Wives reported higher levels of marital instability and positivity than husbands. Marital instability was linked with one’s own and one’s partners’ negativity, and …

Considering Custody Arrangements For Companion Animals, Rachel Robinson-Greene

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

In most states, pets are viewed as personal property in the eyes of the law. Last year, California shook up the status quo by passing Assembly Bill 2274, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in September. The law will allow judges in divorce cases to make more nuanced decisions when it comes to animal custody. Prior to the passing of the bill, courts were required to divide community property roughly equally. Judges now have the flexibility to consider factors like which of the parties in the relationship provides care to the pet in the form of walking, …

Nonstandard Employment And The Risk Of Divorce In South Korea, Donghyun Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Despite a persistent increase in South Korea’s divorce rate, our understanding of the economic determinants of divorce in South Korea is very limited. In particular, the relationship between nonstandard employment and divorce has received little attention, even though the number of nonstandard employees has rapidly increased in recent years. This paper examines the extent to which one’s employment type is associated with marital dissolution in South Korea, using nationally representative longitudinal data (the Korea Welfare Panel Study from 2007 to 2013). Results from discrete-time hazard models show that for men, the odds of divorce of nonstandard workers are estimated to …

What Are They Thinking? A National-Sample Study Of Stability And Change In Divorce Ideation, Alan J. Hawkins, Adam M. Galovan, Steven M. Harris, Sage E. Allen, Kelly M. Roberts, David G. Schramm

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

This study reports on a nationally representative sample of married individuals ages 25–50 (N = 3,000) surveyed twice (1 year apart) to investigate the phenomenon of divorce ideation, or what people are thinking when they are thinking about divorce. Twenty-eight percent of respondents had thought their marriage was in serious trouble in the past but not recently. Another 25% had thoughts about divorce in the last 6 months. Latent Class Analyses revealed three distinct groups among those thinking about divorce at Time 1: soft thinkers (49%), long-term-serious thinkers (45%), and conflicted thinkers (6%). Yet divorce ideation was not static; …

Difficulties Associated With Stepparenting As Predictors Of Remarital Satisfaction And Adjustment, Aaron I. Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

As a result of high divorce and remarriage rates, stepfamilies have become commonplace in society. Researchers and clinicians have suggested that stepchildren can positively and negatively affect remarriage quality. Despite the increasing literature on stepfamilies, few studies have comparatively researched specific stepparenting difficulties as they affect marital satisfaction. Utilizing a sample of newlyweds, this study examines fourteen stepparenting related issues, as measured by the stepparenting subscale of the Questionnaire for Couples in Stepfamilies, and their relationship to marital satisfaction and adjustment.

Adult Attachment Styles And Their Correlation With Marital Adjustment And Divorce, Cheryl Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The theory of attachment is a fairly recent approach to studying the relationship between romantic partners. Attachment theory was originally studied to explain the needs and behaviors between infants and their primary caregivers. The attachment style that infants have with their primary caregiver characterizes them throughout their entire lives. Three different styles of attachment have been described: secure, avoidant, and ambivalent. Secure individuals find it easy to get close to others. Avoidant individuals are nervous when people get too close. Ambivalent individuals want to get very close to others and are fearful of abandonment.

Various research studies suggest that attachment …

The Effect Of Parental Divorce On Young Adult Women's Marital Attitudes, Anne Catherine Schmidt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examines how the experience of a parent's divorce during adolescence affects young adult women's attitudes about relationships, marriage and divorce.
Research questions looked at how participants felt about marriage, their relationship with their parents following the divorce, and how the experience of parental remarriage shapes attitudes about marriage. Fifteen young adult women were interviewed.

The most significant findings were that experiencing a parental divorce leads to
fee lings of ambivalence about marriage. Religious beliefs and positive role models can alleviate some of the negative feelings about marriage that may be present following a parental divorce. Experiencing parental conflict …

Financial Problems As Predictors Of Divorce: A Social Exchange Perspective, Jan D. Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

By using a conceptual framework derived from social exchange theory, this study examined the relationship between financial problems and divorce. Nationally representative data from the "Marital Instability Over the Life Course" panel study was used to determine if financial problems reported at one interview could predict those who would divorce by the subsequent interview. A self-replicating design allowed data analyses for three separate time periods: 1980-1983, 1983- 1988, and 1988-1992.

The sample used in this study consisted of 1,620 married men and women under the age of 55. Additionally, the participants were in their first marriages.

Divorce was the only …

Children's Experience Of Parental Divorce Disclosure: A Look At Intrafamiliar Differences, Heather Westberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explores one aspect of the divorce process, divorce disclosure, to learn more about adult children's perceptions of that experience. Research questions examined participants' perceptions of how they were informed of their parents' divorce, their reactions to the news, and also how they would have preferred to have been told. Within this framework, the study additionally looks at similarities and differences between the experiences of siblings. Twenty siblings from eight different families were interviewed.

The most significant findings were that divorce disclosure occurred most often with only one parent present with most participants being informed in a manner different …

Why Long-Term Marriages Last: A Review, Paula Gabell

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Marriage is a social institution experienced by most adults at least once in their life-time. Like any other type of institution marriage has its own set of norms and roles that are culturally specific to the area where it is being practiced. Marriage has existed in some form in almost every culture throughout time. There are four major types of marriages practiced in the world today. They are polygynous (one husband and many wives), polyandrous (one wife and several husbands), multilateral (several people of both sexes existing as a part of one marriage) and monogamous (two partners usually one male …

A Mass Media Campaign To Promote Divorce Adjustment, James C. Gardiner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Introduction. This study produced and evaluated a mass media campaign designed to promote emotional adjustment to divorce.

Hypotheses. (a) Sending a promotional newsletter to divorced persons will increase their reported utilization of the campaign. (b) Divorced persons who report heavy utilization of the campaign will report greater emotional improvement than divorced persons who report light or no utilization of the campaign.

Method. A field experiment was conducted in rural northern Utah. The names of all recently (less than 12 months) divorced persons were obtained from the county clerk and randomly divided into an experimental group, who received a newsletter promoting …