Marital Perceptions Of African Americans

Author : Kelly L. Nicholson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 152 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (152 download)

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Download or read book Quality of Parent-child Relationship, Self-esteem, and the Marital Attitudes of African American and Hispanic Young Adults from Divorced and Intact Families written by Kelly L. Nicholson and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The divorce rate in this country appears to have reached astronomical levels, with as many as half of all first marriages ending in divorce. The nuclear family consisting of the wage-earning father, home-making mother, and subordinate children, is no longer the norm (Fraad, 2001). Parental divorce and marital conflict have been linked to poorer health among children and adolescents, which can follow into adulthood (Gottman & Katz, 1989). Kiernan and Chase-Lansdale (1995) found that by the age of 23, more people from divorced families than from intact families cohabited prior to marriage. In addition, parental divorce increased early sexual experiences, premarital birth, and leaving home due to conflict. Cherlin, Axinn, and Thornton (1996) found that the experience of divorce impacts the perceptions of a mother, and her perceptions then influence her children's values regarding family formation. The psychological effect that divorce has on children of cultural minorities is not fully understood. Bean and Crane (1996) reviewed 2,162 articles in six major psychological journals and found that only 5% percent of the research was conducted on any cultural minority issue. Research conducted with minority offspring of divorced families is sparse and the data is usually incongruous. The present study focused on the self-reported data of college students from minority backgrounds. The aim of this research was to compare African American and Hispanic adult children from divorced and from intact families on the following variables: perceived quality of parent-child relationship, self-esteem, and marital attitudes. The following measures were implemented: The Mother and Father Scales of the Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS: M-F), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and the Marital Attitudes Scale (MAS). A series of 2x2 ANOVAs was conducted to explore the relationships of ethnicity and family status with the four composite scales (The PCRS-M, PCRS-F, SES, MAS). Consistent with predictions, the results of this study indicated that individuals from intact families perceived to have better father-child relationships than those from separated/divorced families. In terms of the mother-child relationships, however, there was no difference between the two groups. The findings indicated that the attitudes toward marriage for those from intact families and those from separated/divorced families did not differ. There were no differences between Hispanics and African Americans in terms of the quality of father-child relationships. However, the African American from Separated/Divorced group reported closer relationships to the mother than did Hispanic respondents from the same group. The African American from separated/divorced group reported closer relationships to their mothers than did Hispanics from the same group. African Americans and Hispanics were not found to differ with respect to self-esteem scores, although African Americans had more positive attitudes toward marriage than did Hispanics. The impact that divorcing and/or separating families have on the lives and well-being of children of color was the primary interest of this study. Future efforts should focus on investigating the issues that affect individuals from divergent cultures. This study attempted to add to make a contribution to the literature on the long-term effects of family dissolution on adult children of ethnic people.