Analyzes data from children and families seen at the Children's Divorce Clinic. Finds that preschool children are often told nothing about the divorce and that ethnically mixed marriages tended to fail before nonmixed marriages. Reports data concerning custody and parents' emotional response to the divorce. (Author/ABB)

Investigated the association between levels of marital conflict and the self-esteem of children and adolescents. Results indicated the negative effects of conflict tended to be strongest when children's relationships were poor with both parents. However, for young females, conflict was also negatively related to self-esteem when relationships with…

Reports on a longitudinal study that provides a prospective view of children's personality functioning prior to their subsequent experiencing of divorce. Shows the behavior of boys as early as 11 years prior to parental separation or formal dissolution of marriage to be consistently affected by predivorce familial stress. (HOD)

Investigated the behavior of 107 children aged one to 18 following their parents' separation. Younger children were reported to exhibit more acting out, while older children showed more depression. Children whose parents were separated or who remarried after 18 months were more maladjusted than children whose parents divorced.

Summarizes the main theoretical frameworks attempting to explain the causal mechanisms connecting marital conflict to child adjustment. Outlines the implications of accumulated gender-related research findings for each theoretical framework. Argues that gender may be a moderator of many of the mechanisms outlined in existing theoretical frameworks…

Lifestyles of parents of autistic children were assessed through volunteer participation in a telephone survey, and comparisons were made between responses of mothers (N=21) and fathers (N=12). Almost half of the fathers contacted did not answer the survey. The study examined a variety of therapy-related and demographic variables, including…