The Timing of Divorce

Abstract

The National Survey of Families and Households was used to assess the effects of marital status on contact with adult children (N = 1,929). Respondents were 55 years of age or older, had been married at least once, and had a biological child aged 19 years or older from the first marriage, who was not residing in the home. As hypothesized, divorce had a negative effect on interaction with adult children, and this effect is much greater for men than for women. In particular, those men who divorced when their children were younger had the lowest rates of interaction. These data suggest that the long-term effects of divorce for men are particularly deleterious in terms of interaction with their children.