Children Of Divorced Parents Essay
Running Head: DIVORCE, ATTACHMENT ANXIETY AND AVOIDANCE
Studying Attachment and Avoidance Among Children of Divorced Parents
Briana Weems
University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana Campus
Abstract
Through extensive research conducted by Fraley and Hefferman (2013), they have found that the attachment of children, especially in early childhood, has a positive correlation with whether or not the child’s parents are divorced. This study aimed to replicate Fraley and Hefferman’s attachment and divorce results, with the narrower aim of studying if the relationship between divorce and attachment towards mothers and fathers was similar. Results from this showed that there was higher correlation between the father/child relationship with regards to attachment, thus partially supporting Fraley and Hefferman.
Studying Attachment and Avoidance Among Children of Divorced Parents
How many friends, people, or even ourselves, do we know whose parents are divorced? Have you ever thought of how that affects their relationship with their mothers or fathers? A well-known study suggests that whether or not your parents get divorced and the age which you are when they get the divorce will affect your attachment style with both …show more content…
parents (Fraley & Heffernan, 2013). Fraley and Hefferman had a large sample of participants rate their personality and their relationships with their parents on an online website. They found that children had high avoidant and insecure relationships with their mothers, and even higher with their fathers. They also found that if the children were younger when their parents divorced, then they were also more likely to have an avoidant attachment with their parents. The results have been duplicated in an in class experiment, where college students were given the same survey to take. The purpose of this study was to perform a replication in a sample of Midwestern undergraduates to increase the generalizability of Fraley and Heffernan’s findings and verify that their study was valid.
Research has shown that “a child’s attachment Behavioral System is activated when there is a threat that which will deny them contact and proximity to their attachment figures,” (Ciattei, 2006) meaning that any child exposed to a divorce will automatically deal with attachment issues. In a study done by Booth et al. (2000) , divorce was correlated with poor school performance, low self-esteem, behavior problems, distress and adjustment difficulties.(Eagan, 2004) Divorce has been showing to have a ripple effect on children and not only their attachment but their overall childhood. It is therefore predicted that results from the replication will be similar to the results of Fraley and Hefferman, due to the recency of the study and the demographics being quite similar to the participants in the replication group. More specifically, the hypothesis was that divorce would be positively correlated with avoidant and anxious attachment styles towards mother and father, but there would be larger correlations in the case of the father.
Method
Participants
For the replication group, a small class of 74 undergraduates were used to replicate the study from a large midwest university. The average age was 20.69 (SD = 1.00) and 62.8% of the participants were female. 23.7% indicated that their parents were divorced and the average age people were when their parents divorced was 8.5 years old. The sample group was compensated by credit for the psychology course they were enrolled in.
Measures
The Experiences in Close Relationships—Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire was completed by the participants in order to collect the data for both the Fraley and Hefferman study, as well as the replication. This questionnaire measured two dimensions, the attachment-related anxiety and the attachment-related avoidance for both mother and father. The zero-order correlation was used to calculate measurements, meaning 0 represented no divorce and 1 represented divorce.
Design and Procedure
This study would be considered observational because the participants filled out surveys and the researchers did nothing to manipulate the environment or testing conditions. The surveys were hosted online by the survey platform SurveyGizmo. After having participants take the same survey that Fraley and Hefferman used, the researchers measured the mother’s avoidance and anxiety as well as the father’s avoidance and anxiety. IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences or SPSS was used to evaluate the data collected from the surveys. To investigate the relationship between divorce and attachment styles, correlations between the independent variable of divorce with the dependent measures of avoidance and anxiety were calculated.
Results
Figure 1 demonstrates the relationship between parental divorce and anxiety for the mother.
The figure below shows the results that we received for both mother and father from the replication group. Mother’s avoidance shows there is a weak positive correlation between the two and connection is not statistically significant. (r=0.82, p =0.05). Mother’s anxiety also shows a weak positive correlation between the two, which once again means that the connection is not statistically significant. (r=0.82, p=0.20). There was a significant positive correlation between divorce and attachment avoidance towards fathers. (r=0.24, p=.04) There was also a significant positive correlation between divorce and attachment anxiety towards fathers. (r=0.38,
p>0.01)
Discussion
After assessing the results, it has been concluded that our hypothesis was somewhat accurate. Even though, mother’s avoidance and anxiety was slightly higher in the replication group, there is a significant correlation for anxiety and avoidance of the father, which is consistent with Fraley and Hefferman’s (2013) findings. Discuss why it is the case that father’ relationships with the child deteriorate more than the mothers’ after divorce. Could custody be the reason? Social norms? Biological reasons? Fraley and Hefferman discussed the reason for the significantly higher correlation for fathers could be due to the fact that mothers are more likely to get custody after the divorce. Mother’s correlations may not match with Fraley and Hefferman’s findings due to confounds that we are not aware of. These results also implicate that the father’s role after the divorce has a significant impact on the child. This means that fathers need to work twice as hard after the divorce to keep a healthy relationship with their children. A limitation that this replication faced is that there is no randomization of the study, due to it being replicated by a class and there was no way for the professor to randomize who took the class during the time the study took place. Future studies could take a deeper look at the differences between what mothers do with their children versus what fathers due with their children to explain these correlations. They could also focus more on the father and see what characteristics of the father/child relationship that have this effect on the child.
As we have seen, the divorce of parents affects the relationship the child has with both the mother and the father. The higher correlation with the father/child relationship suggests that something happens between this bond that needs to be further investigated. Fraley and Hefferman, as well as this replication, touched the surface of an issue that can be further analyzed and replicated, which may change the way parents look at divorce but could also improve the relationships that parents have with their children, due to them knowing that this is a very delicate time in their child’s life that may hold repercussions farther down the line for the decisions that they make now. As researchers, our job is to educate with our findings and hope that we can make a difference.
References
Eagan, C. (2004, May 1). Attachment and Divorce: Family Consequences. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/eagan.html
Ciattei, J. (2006, August 1). Attachment and Divorce: A Review On The Literatuer. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
Fraley, C., & Heffernan, M. (2013, August 7). Attachment and Parental Divorce. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
Figure of Correlations Between Divorce and Maternal and Paternal Attachment Styles
Study
r p Mother
Avoidance
<.08
<.49
Anxiety
<.08
<.20
Father
Avoidance
<.24
<.04
Anxiety
<.38
<.01
Studying Attachment and Avoidance Among Children of Divorced Parents
Briana Weems
University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana Campus
Abstract
Through extensive research conducted by Fraley and Hefferman (2013), they have found that the attachment of children, especially in early childhood, has a positive correlation with whether or not the child’s parents are divorced. This study aimed to replicate Fraley and Hefferman’s attachment and divorce results, with the narrower aim of studying if the relationship between divorce and attachment towards mothers and fathers was similar. Results from this showed that there was higher correlation between the father/child relationship with regards to attachment, thus partially supporting Fraley and Hefferman.
Studying Attachment and Avoidance Among Children of Divorced Parents
How many friends, people, or even ourselves, do we know whose parents are divorced? Have you ever thought of how that affects their relationship with their mothers or fathers? A well-known study suggests that whether or not your parents get divorced and the age which you are when they get the divorce will affect your attachment style with both …show more content…
parents (Fraley & Heffernan, 2013). Fraley and Hefferman had a large sample of participants rate their personality and their relationships with their parents on an online website. They found that children had high avoidant and insecure relationships with their mothers, and even higher with their fathers. They also found that if the children were younger when their parents divorced, then they were also more likely to have an avoidant attachment with their parents. The results have been duplicated in an in class experiment, where college students were given the same survey to take. The purpose of this study was to perform a replication in a sample of Midwestern undergraduates to increase the generalizability of Fraley and Heffernan’s findings and verify that their study was valid.
Research has shown that “a child’s attachment Behavioral System is activated when there is a threat that which will deny them contact and proximity to their attachment figures,” (Ciattei, 2006) meaning that any child exposed to a divorce will automatically deal with attachment issues. In a study done by Booth et al. (2000) , divorce was correlated with poor school performance, low self-esteem, behavior problems, distress and adjustment difficulties.(Eagan, 2004) Divorce has been showing to have a ripple effect on children and not only their attachment but their overall childhood. It is therefore predicted that results from the replication will be similar to the results of Fraley and Hefferman, due to the recency of the study and the demographics being quite similar to the participants in the replication group. More specifically, the hypothesis was that divorce would be positively correlated with avoidant and anxious attachment styles towards mother and father, but there would be larger correlations in the case of the father.
Method
Participants
For the replication group, a small class of 74 undergraduates were used to replicate the study from a large midwest university. The average age was 20.69 (SD = 1.00) and 62.8% of the participants were female. 23.7% indicated that their parents were divorced and the average age people were when their parents divorced was 8.5 years old. The sample group was compensated by credit for the psychology course they were enrolled in.
Measures
The Experiences in Close Relationships—Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire was completed by the participants in order to collect the data for both the Fraley and Hefferman study, as well as the replication. This questionnaire measured two dimensions, the attachment-related anxiety and the attachment-related avoidance for both mother and father. The zero-order correlation was used to calculate measurements, meaning 0 represented no divorce and 1 represented divorce.
Design and Procedure
This study would be considered observational because the participants filled out surveys and the researchers did nothing to manipulate the environment or testing conditions. The surveys were hosted online by the survey platform SurveyGizmo. After having participants take the same survey that Fraley and Hefferman used, the researchers measured the mother’s avoidance and anxiety as well as the father’s avoidance and anxiety. IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences or SPSS was used to evaluate the data collected from the surveys. To investigate the relationship between divorce and attachment styles, correlations between the independent variable of divorce with the dependent measures of avoidance and anxiety were calculated.
Results
Figure 1 demonstrates the relationship between parental divorce and anxiety for the mother.
The figure below shows the results that we received for both mother and father from the replication group. Mother’s avoidance shows there is a weak positive correlation between the two and connection is not statistically significant. (r=0.82, p =0.05). Mother’s anxiety also shows a weak positive correlation between the two, which once again means that the connection is not statistically significant. (r=0.82, p=0.20). There was a significant positive correlation between divorce and attachment avoidance towards fathers. (r=0.24, p=.04) There was also a significant positive correlation between divorce and attachment anxiety towards fathers. (r=0.38,
p>0.01)
Discussion
After assessing the results, it has been concluded that our hypothesis was somewhat accurate. Even though, mother’s avoidance and anxiety was slightly higher in the replication group, there is a significant correlation for anxiety and avoidance of the father, which is consistent with Fraley and Hefferman’s (2013) findings. Discuss why it is the case that father’ relationships with the child deteriorate more than the mothers’ after divorce. Could custody be the reason? Social norms? Biological reasons? Fraley and Hefferman discussed the reason for the significantly higher correlation for fathers could be due to the fact that mothers are more likely to get custody after the divorce. Mother’s correlations may not match with Fraley and Hefferman’s findings due to confounds that we are not aware of. These results also implicate that the father’s role after the divorce has a significant impact on the child. This means that fathers need to work twice as hard after the divorce to keep a healthy relationship with their children. A limitation that this replication faced is that there is no randomization of the study, due to it being replicated by a class and there was no way for the professor to randomize who took the class during the time the study took place. Future studies could take a deeper look at the differences between what mothers do with their children versus what fathers due with their children to explain these correlations. They could also focus more on the father and see what characteristics of the father/child relationship that have this effect on the child.
As we have seen, the divorce of parents affects the relationship the child has with both the mother and the father. The higher correlation with the father/child relationship suggests that something happens between this bond that needs to be further investigated. Fraley and Hefferman, as well as this replication, touched the surface of an issue that can be further analyzed and replicated, which may change the way parents look at divorce but could also improve the relationships that parents have with their children, due to them knowing that this is a very delicate time in their child’s life that may hold repercussions farther down the line for the decisions that they make now. As researchers, our job is to educate with our findings and hope that we can make a difference.
References
Eagan, C. (2004, May 1). Attachment and Divorce: Family Consequences. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/eagan.html
Ciattei, J. (2006, August 1). Attachment and Divorce: A Review On The Literatuer. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
Fraley, C., & Heffernan, M. (2013, August 7). Attachment and Parental Divorce. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
Figure of Correlations Between Divorce and Maternal and Paternal Attachment Styles
Study
r p Mother
Avoidance
<.08
<.49
Anxiety
<.08
<.20
Father
Avoidance
<.24
<.04
Anxiety
<.38
<.01