Mother-Child and Father-Child Relationships in Emerging Adults from Divorced and Non-Divorced Families

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to analyze the associations between parental divorce and interparental conflict with the quality of parent-child relationships. Specifically, we analyzed trust, communication and alienation in both father-child and mother-child relationships in a sample of 1078 Spanish emerging adults from divorced and non-divorced families. The interaction between parental divorce and conflict was also analyzed. In support of our expectations, parental divorce was associated with lower trust and communication, along with higher alienation in father-child and mother-child relationships. When interparental conflict was included, parental conflict was more strongly associated with lower trust and communication in mother-child relationships, and higher alienation in both mother-child and father-child relationships. However, parental divorce was still associated with low trust and communication with fathers, when interparental conflict and the interaction between parental divorce and conflict were added. In summation, our results suggest that both parental divorce and conflict should be taken into account in the study of the consequences of family-related stress variables on adult children’s wellbeing. These findings add to the current literature and contribute to better comprehend the effects of parental divorce and conflict on both mother-child and father-child affective relationships in an understudied cultural context. The implications, limitations and future research recommendations are discussed.

Nonresidential fatherhood and father–child relationships among Curaçaoan and Dutch adolescents and young adults.

“…In a more recent study in the United States, nonresidence of biological fathers was negatively associated with adolescents’ perceptions of closeness and interactions with their fathers (Fagan, 2023). Also in Spain, young adults with nonresident fathers reported lower trust and communication and higher alienation in father–child relationships than those with resident fathers (Smith-Etxeberria & Eceiza, 2021).…”

Smartphone Addiction, Executive Function, and Mother-Child Relationships in Early Childhood Emotion Dysregulation

“…According to Erikson's psychosocial theory, children of kindergarten age are in the stage of autonomy vs. shame/doubt, where they start to learn self-control but still accept the control of others, and the initiative vs. guilt stage, where they develop a sense of purpose and a desire to take action, typically between the ages of one to five years (Kujawa et al, 2020;Smith-Etxeberria & Eceiza, 2021;Yansyah et al, 2021). Therefore, children should be given many opportunities to engage in activities or actions independently, and parents should help children build self-confidence and positive emotions.…”