The Long-Term Relational Consequences of Problematic Family Backgrounds

A large number of American children will grow up in a home disrupted by death or divorce, or in one that is intact but troubled by intense conflict or other problems. The present study addresses some of the long-term relational consequences of these family backgrounds. Using a sample of 313 volunteers average age of 35.4 years, those from intact-happy, intact-unhappy, death-disrupted, and divorce-disrupted families were compared on various measures of relational well-being (likelihood of being in an intimate relationship, quality of the intimate relationship, and number of children). Those from intact-happy families are less likely than others to be in an intimate relationship. The quality of intimate relationships formed by those from the four groups, and the number of children they had, did not differ.