Adolescent adjustment and well-being: Effects of parental divorce and distress
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of divorce or separation on an adolescent’s psychological adjustment, investigate if there are any gender differences in the effect of divorce, the impact of time on the adolescent after divorce, and the effect of divorce on the adolescent after controlling for parental symptoms of depression and anxiety (Størksen, Røysamb, Holmen, & Tambs, 2006).
The independent variables for this study were divorce and parental distress. These two variables were selected because the researchers wanted to establish the effect of divorce on adolescents and compare it to those of adolescents whose parents had not divorced or separated. Adolescents who had grown up with one parent were included in the no divorce group since they had only known a single parent. Parental distress was used to determine the impact this would have on an adolescent and compare it to that of a parent who does not have distress.
The dependent variables for this study were symptoms of anxiety and depression (SCL-5), subjective well-being (SWB), academic performance, conduct, and dissatisfaction. Academic, conduct, and dissatisfaction were school-related problems. The researchers wanted to determine the effects of divorce on Scandinavian adolescents for these five variables and compare them to those od adolescents whose parents did not have a divorce. This would allow the researchers to determine if there is any effect on the lives of an adolescent based on the divorce of the parents.
In this study, the researchers hypothesized that divorce has a direct effect on adolescent distress and resultant school problems.
Literature
The study has used the epidemiological framework. This framework is used to evaluate the correlation between exposure to something and the adverse health effects. For this study, the researchers...
Data will be collected using a survey instrument. The instrument will be designed by researchers for the purposes of this particular study and will feature two sections. The first section will ask for some brief familial and biographical information. First and foremost, the survey will ask the life and marital status of the respondents' parents, accounting for single mothers, single fathers, legal non-biological guardians, divorced parents, remarried parents and married
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