Breaking up. Breaking up. How specific characteristics of the divorce process interact

with the wellbeing of ex-partners after divorce.

8th meeting of the European Network for the Sociological and Demographic Studies of Divorce – oct.2010

Sara Symoens & Piet Bracke Ghent University

Introduction

• total divorce ratio for Belgium +-50%• research on divorce and wellbeing:

depression, anxiety, stress, life-satisfaction,…social-relational and socio-economic factors (stress- and coping th.)– for differences between the married and divorced– but how to explain remaining differences in

adaptation within the group of the divorcees?• impact of the divorce trajectory itself?

Impact of the divorce process

• Extending stress and coping theories with characteristics of the divorce process– indicators of time and duration

• Time since the divorce (chronic strain or stress?)• Duration of the divorce process (-)

– process-related indicators• Initiation (+)• Perception of fairness (division of goods) (+)• Conflict (relief or strain?)

– process related post–divorce indicators• quality of the relationship with the ex-spouse (+)

Gender, divorce and mental health• Women consistently report higher levels of

distress, and lower levels of wellbeing• Gender differential effects of characteristics of

the divorce process?– Gender-role theories: id. of women << social

relationships and how well they are able to form and maintain theseid. of men << individualisation and personal achievement

=> gender differences for conflict, relationship-quality and initiation?

Research questions

• “What is the impact of the divorce process? Are quick divorces better? Does time heal? And what is the impact of initiation, conflict, or the (un)fairness of the division of goods? Can we detect ‘model’ trajectories? Or gender-differential effects?”

• In social research: one indicator, or ad-hoc• Important for policy-makers!

• Data – the ‘Divorce in Flanders’-project, 2009-10

www.divorceinflanders.be– Multi-actor & divorce specific (preliminary) data– 1624 men & 1946 women, aged 25-60

Data, methods & variables

•Methods– Linear regression models, women and men

separately– 2 analyses: (1) mental health differences married

versus divorced, (2) mental health differences between divorcees

– PASW 18.0.

• Variables– Y= depression (CES-D8) & life-satisfaction (0-10)– X= time since divorce; duration of the legal

procedure; initiation (yes-no); level of conflict during divorce (3 catn); perception of fairness (3 catn) & current relationship quality (3catn + no contact)

– C = age; new partner; kids & education

MEN (25-60) WOMEN (25-60)

depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10) depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10)

Parameter p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig.

Intercept 1,322 *** 8,079 *** 1,662 *** 8,082 ***

Divorced (married=ref.cat.) 0,379 *** -0,234 ** 0,53 *** -0,292 ***

Results 1. Differences in mental health by marital state

MEN (25-60) WOMEN (25-60)

depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10) depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10)

Parameter p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig.

Intercept 1,322 *** 8,079 *** 1,662 *** 8,082 ***

Divorced (married=ref.cat.) 0,379 *** -0,234 ** 0,53 *** -0,292 ***

Intercept 2,064 *** 6,823 *** 2,439 *** 6,96 ***

Divorced (married=ref.cat.) 0,087 0,261 ** 0,177 * 0,217 **

Partner (yes) -0,751 *** 1,271 *** -0,792 *** 1,143 ***

Results 1. Differences in mental health by marital state

• Divorced men and women: worse mental health scores than the married on both depression and life-satisfaction.

• However, it is the absence of a partner, rather than the experience of the divorce.

2. Impact of the divorce process

Conclusion 1

DIVORCED MEN (N=1139) DIVORCED WOMEN (N=1348)depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10) depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10)

p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig.(Constant) 1,741 *** 7,162 *** 2,293 *** 7,669 ***

Time since D < 3yrs ,465 * -,646 *** -,178 ,036

Duration of process ,008 ** -,004 ,002 ,003

Initative (yes) -,053 ,225 * -,032 ,254 **

Goods fair divided

Goods anti me ,197 * -,143 ,387 **** -,386 ***

Goods pro me ,260 ,119 ,180 ,049

Low divorce conflict

High divorce conflict -,033 -,054 ,262 (*) -,235

Med divorce conflict ,042 ,090 ,123 ,102

Good quality relation ex

no contact with ex -,046 ,129 -,083 ,245 **

Bad quality relation ex ,102 ,028 ,321 (*) -,151

OK quality relation ex ,148 -,213 ,052 -,025

age ,001 -,002 ,000 -,014 (*)

Partner in hh -,723 *** 1,242 *** -,812 *** 1,083 ***

Kids in hh -,001 ,108 -,189 ,027

Education high

Education low ,129 ,072 ,401 ** -,123

Education medium ,019 -,037 ,173 -,114

DIVORCED MEN (N=1139) DIVORCED WOMEN (N=1348)depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10) depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10)

p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig.(Constant) 1,741 *** 7,162 *** 2,293 *** 7,669 ***

Time since D < 3yrs ,465 * -,646 *** -,178 ,036

Duration of process ,008 ** -,004 ,002 ,003

Initative (yes) -,053 ,225 * -,032 ,254 **

Goods fair divided

Goods anti me ,197 * -,143 ,387 **** -,386 ***

Goods pro me ,260 ,119 ,180 ,049

Low divorce conflict

High divorce conflict -,033 -,054 ,262 (*) -,235

Med divorce conflict ,042 ,090 ,123 ,102

Good quality relation ex

no contact with ex -,046 ,129 -,083 ,245 **

Bad quality relation ex ,102 ,028 ,321 (*) -,151

OK quality relation ex ,148 -,213 ,052 -,025

age ,001 -,002 ,000 -,014 (*)

Partner in hh -,723 *** 1,242 *** -,812 *** 1,083 ***

Kids in hh -,001 ,108 -,189 ,027

Education high

Education low ,129 ,072 ,401 ** -,123

Education medium ,019 -,037 ,173 -,114

DIVORCED MEN (N=1139) DIVORCED WOMEN (N=1348)depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10) depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10)

p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig.(Constant) 1,741 *** 7,162 *** 2,293 *** 7,669 ***

Time since D < 3yrs ,465 * -,646 *** -,178 ,036

Duration of process ,008 ** -,004 ,002 ,003

Initative (yes) -,053 ,225 * -,032 ,254 **

Goods fair divided

Goods anti me ,197 * -,143 ,387 **** -,386 ***

Goods pro me ,260 ,119 ,180 ,049

Low divorce conflict

High divorce conflict -,033 -,054 ,262 (*) -,235

Med divorce conflict ,042 ,090 ,123 ,102

Good quality relation ex

no contact with ex -,046 ,129 -,083 ,245 **

Bad quality relation ex ,102 ,028 ,321 (*) -,151

OK quality relation ex ,148 -,213 ,052 -,025

age ,001 -,002 ,000 -,014 (*)

Partner in hh -,723 *** 1,242 *** -,812 *** 1,083 ***

Kids in hh -,001 ,108 -,189 ,027

Education high

Education low ,129 ,072 ,401 ** -,123

Education medium ,019 -,037 ,173 -,114

DIVORCED MEN (N=1139) DIVORCED WOMEN (N=1348)depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10) depression (0-10) lifesatisfaction (0-10)

p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig. p.e. sig.(Constant) 1,741 *** 7,162 *** 2,293 *** 7,669 ***

Time since D < 3yrs ,465 * -,646 *** -,178 ,036

Duration of process ,008 ** -,004 ,002 ,003

Initative (yes) -,053 ,225 * -,032 ,254 **

Goods fair divided

Goods anti me ,197 * -,143 ,387 **** -,386 ***

Goods pro me ,260 ,119 ,180 ,049

Low divorce conflict

High divorce conflict -,033 -,054 ,262 (*) -,235

Med divorce conflict ,042 ,090 ,123 ,102

Good quality relation ex

no contact with ex -,046 ,129 -,083 ,245 **

Bad quality relation ex ,102 ,028 ,321 (*) -,151

OK quality relation ex ,148 -,213 ,052 -,025

age ,001 -,002 ,000 -,014 (*)

Partner in hh -,723 *** 1,242 *** -,812 *** 1,083 ***

Kids in hh -,001 ,108 -,189 ,027

Education high

Education low ,129 ,072 ,401 ** -,123

Education medium ,019 -,037 ,173 -,114

Conclusion 2• All process-indicators have some impact, though a new

partner remains very important• Women: mental health mainly related to issues of

relationship quality (conflict during divorce and current contact with ex). Men: wellbeing is more affected by circumstances involving power (taking the initiative) or facilitating closure (time since divorce, duration divorce process). Initiation and having no more contact: important for women to. So not clear cut.

• Indication that stress theories hold for men, but that chronic strain hypotheses are more relevant for women!

Limitations

• Crosssectional data, limited dataset• Dyadic data-structure not used (for further

analyses)• Only first-divorcees included• Further research needed on mediation, custody,

…

Strenghts• (a) focus on the impact of different

characteristics of the divorce process• (b) use of a divorce-specialized dataset, • (c) two distinct indicators of mental health

(depression as an indicator of distress, life satisfaction as an indicator of wellbeing),

• (d) some interesting conclusions on which further research can build.

Sara Symoens & Prof. Piet Bracke

Ghent University, department of SociologyKorte Meer 5, 9000 GhentBELGIUM

Sara.Symoens@UGent.bePiet.Bracke@UGent.be