Perceived Psychological Separation of Older Adolescents and Young Adults From Their Parents: A Comparison of Divorced Versus Intact Families

One hundred sixty adolescents and young adults from divorced and intact families completed a packet of questionnaires and inventories including the Personal Data Sheet, Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire, Goal Instability and Superiority Scales, The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales‐Revised, and The Attributional Style Questionnaire to address the impact of divorce on the process of adolescent psychological separation from their parents. Results indicated that adolescents from the Divorced Group were just as adjusted to college life as their Intact counterparts and more separated from their families than the Intact Group, as was expected.