Relational uncertainty management in adult children of divorce

Abstract

Utilizing uncertainty management theory (UMT) and a multiple goals theory of personal relationships (MGPR) the present study examined how adult children of divorce (ACOD) manage relational uncertainty following parental divorce. In-depth, semistructured interviews with 25 adult children who had experienced parental divorce when they were 18 years of age or older revealed two broad types of information acquisition strategies: deliberate (i.e., information-seeking and informationavoiding) and incidental (i.e., incidental information acquisition). Deliberate information acquisition strategies were animated by several goals, including reducing and maintaining uncertainty, avoiding feeling caught, and protection. Alongside goals, various constraints (e.g., target efficacy, coping efficacy) played a role in ACOD's relational uncertainty management. We discuss these results in relation to their theoretical and practical applications.

Parental Dissolution and the Transmission of Relational Instability for Adult Children of Divorce

“…Incidental information acquisition can promote 'feeling caught' between the parent's divorce, a concept also known as parentification (Mikucki-Enyart et al, 2018, p. 484). The results of the study done by Mikucki-Enyart et al (2018) highlight the importance of examining the experiences of adult children of divorce (p. 483). They first acknowledge how ACOD manage additional normative and developmental life stressors that complexify uncertainty and the ways in which they manage it.…”

“…Relationship uncertainty concerns the doubts people have about the nature of the relationship apart from the self or partner issues (Carpenter-Theune & Knobloch, 2004, p. 178). Mikucki-Enyart et al (2018) recognize the effects divorce has on adult children and the acquisition of relational uncertainty. They conduct a study utilizing uncertainty management theory to understand how ACOD manage these relational uncertainties following parental divorce and the implications it may have towards communication outcomes as well as behavioural attempts to manage this uncertainty.…”

“…In the study by Mikucki-Enyart et al (2018), they recruited participants whose parents divorced when they were eighteen years or older living independently at the time of the divorce (p. 474). The results demonstrate different strategies ACOD use in order to obtain knowledge around the dissolution in an attempt to reduce relational uncertainty.…”

“…Mediating my parents problematic communication patterns placed myself in a position of tension, feeling caught between the two with neither of them recognizing a problem. A position I found myself in as highlighted by Enyart et al (2018) balancing the desire to seek and avoid information in order to reduce my uncertainty all while working to protect myself and my parents. My information seeking started as deliberate looking for causations and reasoning as to why the relationship was ending.…”

“…This purposeful form of information acquisition soon turned into incidental as I was being told information I no longer seek. As mentioned by Enyart et al (2018), these communicative differences have implications for managing uncertainty and creating boundaries. Afifi and Schrodt (2003) study makes the comparison between adolescents and young adults communication competence when negotiating boundaries for communication with parents (p. 483).…”