Coping through Accounts of the Divorce Experience: Understanding - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Anthony J. Ferraro, Ph.D. (Kansas State University ) Karen Oehme, J.D. (Florida State University ) Mallory Lucier-Greer, Ph.D. (Auburn University )

Coping through Accounts of the Divorce Experience: Understanding the Connection between Co-parenting and Mental Health

• Why focus on divorce?
• The number of children growing up with at least one nonresident parent is at its highest

point in U.S. history (Vespa et al., 2013)

• An estimated 1.2 million children experience a parental divorce yearly

(estimate from SIPP data, 2009; see Kreider & Ellis, 2011)

Divorce & the Stress Process Framework

• Why focus on divorce?
• The divorce itself can be thought of as a discrete stressor, from which

additional chronic stressors emerge or amplify (Pearlin, 1989)

• The stress process framework (Pearlin et al., 1981) describes two forms of

stressors:

Discrete Stressors

Divorce & the Stress Process Framework

• Why focus on divorce?
• The divorce itself can be thought of as a discrete stressor, from which

additional chronic stressors emerge or amplify (Pearlin, 1989)

• The stress process framework (Pearlin et al., 1981) describes two forms of

stressors:

Discrete Stressors Chronic Stressors

Divorce & the Stress Process Framework

• Why focus on divorce?
• The stress process framework (Pearlin et al., 1981):
• The impact of stressors on the individual will often manifest in their mental health

Discrete Stressors Chronic Stressors Mental Health

Divorce & the Stress Process Framework

• Why focus on divorce?
• The stress process framework (Pearlin et al., 1981):
• However, the resources available to an individual and their ability to cope with the

stressors that present are anticipated to impact the relationship between stressors and mental health

Mental Health

• Personal Resources
• Social Resources
• Coping

Chronic Stressors Discrete Stressors

Divorce & the Stress Process Framework

• Why focus on divorce?
• The stress process framework (Pearlin et al., 1981):
• However, when a divorce occurs…
• Our social relationships may act as either a resource or a stressor depending

upon their nature and quality (Pearlin, 1983)

Discrete Stressors Chronic Stressors Mental Health

• Personal Resources
• Coping
• Social Resources

?

Divorce & the Stress Process Framework

?

• “The ways that parents work together in their roles as parents”

(Feinberg, 2003, p. 1499)

• Co-parenting relationships between former spouses are an

important determinant of post-divorce adjustment, with various dimensions of co-parenting differentially tied to various indicators

• f individual well-being (e.g., Petren et al., 2017)

Co-parenting

• Self-efficacy (Pearlin & Pioli, 2003)
• Account-making (Harvey & Fine, 2006; Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1989; Weiss, 1975)
• Purpose of the current study

Discrete Stressors Chronic Stressors Mental Health

• Personal Resources
• Coping

?

Personal Resources & Coping

• Sample (N = 609)
• Inclusion criteria
• Predominantly:
• Female (82.1%)
• White or Caucasian (80.6%)
• Experiencing first divorce (79.7%)
• Referenced a target child who was on average 7.40 years old (SD = 4.64)
• Measures
• Four dimensions of co-parenting (Ferraro et al., 2016)
• Self-efficacy (Sherer et al., 1982)
• Perceived parental competence of the former partner (Feinberg et al., 2012)
• Adverse mental health symptomology (Osman et al., 1997; Hewitt et al., 1992)
• Analysis

Method

Measurement Model

Mediation Model

Mediation Model

Mediation Model

Mediation Model (MCMM)

Mediation Model (MCMM)

Mediation Model

Mediation Model (MCMM)

Mediation Model (MCMM)

Mediation Model (MCMM)

• Continued support for self-efficacy as a predictor of mental health

symptomology

• Further utility in consideration of perceived competence as part of the

account-making process

• Theoretical separation of coping & personal resources
• Connection between control and adverse mental health
• Limitations
• Future Directions

Discussion

Thank You

Any Questions?