Parenthood and Psychological Well-Being Among the Formerly Married
- 1 December 1989
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Family Issues
- Vol. 10 (4), 463-481
- https://doi.org/10.1177/019251389010004003
Abstract
Previous studies have found that children have a negative, albeit fairly weak, impact on the psychological well-being of parents. These studies have generally focused on married respondents and, to a somewhat lesser extent, unmarried women, but have generally ignored unmarried men. For the most part, studies of parenthood and well-being have not considered the issue of adult and/or absent children. Defining parenthood so it includes relations with adult children, absent children, and dependent children in the home, the present study compares the impact of parenthood on the well-being of formerly married men and women to that of married men and women. The findings confirm that nonparents experience better mental health than parents and further indicate that (1) variation in the parental role is more strongly associated with psychological well-being for men than for women, (2) parenthood is most strongly related to well-being among formerly married men, for whom the greatest problems occur with the presence of young children, (3) the negative effect of the absence of children on parents is greater than the effect of the presence of children for married men and formerly married women, and (4) much of the negative effect of being divorced or being widowed has to do with the impact of children on psychological well-being, particularly for men. Theoretical implications are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- Psychological Well-Being Among Mothers with School Age Children: Evolving Family StructuresSocial Forces, 1989
- Time With Children: The Impact of Couples' Work-Time CommitmentsSocial Forces, 1988
- Core Discussion Networks of AmericansAmerican Sociological Review, 1987
- Sex and Race in the Determinants of Psychophysical Distress: A Reappraisal of the Sex-Role HypothesisSocial Forces, 1985
- Adult Kinship Networks: The Selective Formation of Intimate Ties with KinSocial Forces, 1983
- A Research Note on Friendship, Gender, and the Life CycleSocial Forces, 1983
- Living Alone, Social Integration, and Mental HealthAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1981
- Sex, Marital Status, and Psychiatric Treatment: A Research NoteSocial Forces, 1979
- A Note on Family Situation and Global HappinessSocial Forces, 1979
- The Relationship Between Sex Roles, Marital Status, and Mental IllnessSocial Forces, 1972