emotional well-being of separated and married women : long-term follow-up study

GEOFFREY NELSON 151

psychological distress among the separated and divorced report that differences between them and married women disappear when income or financial stress is controlled for (Gerstel et al., 1985; Menaghan & Lieberman. 1986).

In addition to looking at the stressors experienced by single-parent women, consid- eration of their social context can focus on strengths, growth, and positive changes following separation or divorce and on the process of adaptation and change over time (Gorlick, 1988; Mednick, 1987; Nelson, 1985). Many women experience relief from conflictual or abusive relationships following marital separation (Chiriboga & Cut- ler, 1978; Spanier & Thompson, 1983). Moreover, Nelson (1982, 1989) found that separated women reported more positive life changes, such as increased self-confidence and independence, and more growth- oriented coping, such as learning new skills, developing personal understanding and autonomy, and engaging in more home and family activities, than do married women.

Longitudinal research designs are needed in studies of adaptation to marital separation because they permit an examination of change over time, whereas cross-sectional designs provide only a snapshot of adaptation at one point in time or, more typically, group together people who have been separated or divorced for widely dif- fering periods of time. Moreover, it has been argued that research should consider the time since separation, not time since divorce (Gorlick, 1988; Nelson, 1985). In this vein, Bloom, Hodges, Kern, and Mc- Faddin (1985) conducted a four-year follow-up study of recently separated people with annual assessment intervals and found significant decreases in life problems and psychological distress over time. Kitson, Graham, and Schmidt (1983) also found significant decreases in distress and health problems ffom the time of filing for divorce to the time after divorce decrees had been granted (roughly one year later). Longitu- dinal studies of women and men before and

after marital separation, compared with women and men who remain manied, have found that psychological distress increases imme- diately following marital separation or divorce (Booth & Amato. 1991; Doherry et al., 1989; Menaghan & Lieberman, 1986), but that, over a longer period of time, distress decreases, returning to predivorce levels comparable to those of married people. Similarly, follow-up studies comparing recently divorced and married women have found significant decreases in life stressors and strains and psychological distress two years after divorce (Hetherington et al., 1978; McLanahan, 1983; Wilcox, 1986).

Longitudinal designs also enable researchers to examine predictors of long-term out- comes. A few studies have found that the life strains experienced by separated or divorced people predict emotional well-being at later time periods (Menaghan & Lie- berman, 1986; Nelson, 1989; Tschann, John- ston, & Wallerstein, 1989). In accordance with the stress-buffering hypothesis, people who report high levels of strains and low levels of coping show the highest de- gree of psychological distress (Wheaton, 1985). Thus, use of growth-oriented coping strategies by single-parent women could reduce the negative impact of life stressors or strains on emotional well-being. While there is some evidence to support the stress-buffering role of coping in cross-sectional studies (Aldwin & Revenson, 1987; Billings & Moos, 1981; Mitchell, Cronkite, & Moos, 1983), this hypothesis remains to be tested in longitudinal research.

The present research uses the stress and coping paradigm to understand and compare the emotional well-being of recently separated and married women. Separated women were studied at roughly seven months, one year, two years, and six years after separation and were compared with a group of married women who were studied at the same time intervals. The first pur- pose of the research was to compare the separated and married women with respect

152 FOLLOW-UP OF SEPARATED AND MARRIED WOMEN

to life strains, coping, emotional well-being, and positive and negative life changes. In making these between-group comparisons, income was used as a covariate to determine if it is related to the stress process variables. Since a longitudinal design was used, the effects of time and marital status x time interactions were also exam- ined. The second objective was to determine whether life strains, coping, and the interaction between strains and coping at earlier time intervals predict emotional well- being at later time periods for both groups.

METHOD Sample Selection

This study was conducted in the Water- loo region of Ontario, Canada. To be eligi- ble, the women must have at least one child in the 8-17 age range. Separated women must have custody of the children and must have been separated for less than nine months. Letters explaining the study were sent to 114 women, identified through divorce petitions and notices of separation at the county court, who met these criteria. Thirty-five returned their name and tele- phone number in a prepaid envelope, yield- ing a 3 1 % response rate. A research assistant telephoned the respondents to set up the initial interviews.

Married women were identified through a survey of ten public schools spanning grades three to 12. Teachers gave letters addressed to “Parents” to randomly selected students. The letter stated that the study was concerned with two-parent families coping with stress. Women in two- parent families must have been married only once and have at least one child in the 8-1 7 age range. Sixty-six women who met the inclusion criteria returned their name and phone number in a prepaid envelope and were phoned for interviews. Since more than one letter might have been sent to each family, some letters did not reach home, and many women who did not meet the inclusion criteria received letters, it was impossible to calculate the response rate

for two-parent families. However, the overall response rate was low, so that this sample of women was not truly representative of the population of married women with children aged 8-1 7.

Following the initial interview, both groups of women were reinterviewed six months later and then again 18 months after the initial interview; thus the follow-up interviews occurred at roughly one and two years after separation for the separated group. The findings on the original sample for the first three interviews have been reported elsewhere (Nelson, 1989).

The women who had participated in the initial three interviews were contacted again, four years after the last interview, to obtain long-term follow-up data. Because of bud- get constraints, a mail-out survey method, rather than in-person interviews, was used for the final assessment interval. A total of 19 separated women were located, and 11 (57.9%) returned the questionnaires. These 1 1 women had been separated an average of seven months (range 4-9 months) at the initial interview and all remained separated or divorced (although six had steady relationships with a man) at the final follow-up interval. A total of 48 married women were located, and 28 (58.3%) returned their questionnaires. One of the married women had separated since the last interview and was excluded from the analysis. The sample at the final follow-up period was 3 I .4% of the original separated sample and 40.9% of the original married sample. Information on sample attrition is presented in TABLE 1.

Table 1 SAMPLE ATTRITION

GROUP

INTERVIEW TIME SEPARATED (N) MARRIED (N)

T1’ 7 mos postsep. 35 66

(6 mths after T1) 30 60 T2: 1 yr postsep.

T3: 2 yrs postsep.

T4: 6 y n postsep. (1 yr after T2) 27 58

(4 vrs after T3) 11 27

GEOFFREY NELSON 153

Sample Characteristics To determine how representative the fi-

nal samples were of the originals, the 11 separated participants in the final follow-up were compared with the separated nonparticipants (T1 and T2 N=19, T3 N=16), and the 27 married participants in the final follow-up were compared with the married nonparticipants (T1 and T2 N=33, T3 N=31). Variables on which the samples were compared include mother's age, number of children, years of marriage, education, marital happiness, income, and subscales of measures of life strains, coping, and emotional well-being. There were no significant differences between the separated participants and nonparticipants on 50 variables, and the married participants differed significantly from the married nonparticipants on only two of those variables. Since the number of differences found (4%) did not exceed chance, it appears that the reduced, final follow-up samples of separated and married women were representative of the original, full sample of separated and married women.

The characteristics of the final follow-up sample are presented in TABLE 2. All the women in the study were white and had at least one child in the 8-17 age range at the first interview. The two groups did not differ significantly on age, length of marriage, education, number of children, and work status. However, a greater proportion of the separated women had less than a high school education and were working outside the home at three of the time periods. The separated women reported lower levels of income than did the married women at each time period, and these differences are significant at two of the four time periods. Not surprisingly, the separated women reported lower overall marital happiness (on a five- point rating scale) than did the married women.

Instruments Life strains. A modified version of Ber-

man and Turk's (1981) Checklist of Prob- lems and Concerns (CPC) was used. Wom- en were asked to rate the extent to which

Table 2 CHARACTERISTICS OF FINAL FOLLOW-UP SAMPLE

GROUP

CHARACTERISTIC

Mother's age: T I (M) Length of marriage: T1 (M) Overall marital happiness: T I (M) Number of children: T1 (M) Education: T I Partial high school or less High school graduate

Gross income ($ per month) T I : <$2500

~ $ 2 5 0 0 T2: 4 2 5 0 0

>$2500 T3: 4 2 5 0 0

~ $ 2 5 0 0 T4': <$2500

Z$2500 Work outside home

T1 T2 T3 T4

SEPARATED (N=l l )

37.5 17.2 2.6 3.0

5 (45.5%)

10 (100.00%)

11 (100.0%)

11 (100.0%)

6 (54.5%)

0

0

0 6 (54.5%) 5 (45.5%)

9 (81.8%) 10 (90.9%)

10 (90.9%) 7 (63.6%)

MARRIED (N=27)

38.9 15.3 4.5 2.6

7 (25.9%) 20 (74. I %)

16 (61.5%)

20 (76.9%) 6 (23.1%)

17 (65.4%) 9 (34.6%)

17 (70.8%)

17 (63.0%) 17 (63.0%) 20 (74.1%) 20 (74.1%)

10 (38.5%)

7 (29.2%)

SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

NS NS

1(36)=5.8' NS

NS

X2,?)=5.3'

NS

2(1)=5, 0'

NS

NS NS NS NS

Data missing on three of the married women. *p<.05.


the 20 items had been of concern in the last year on a four-point scale ranging from “never” to “always.” There are five subscales with four items for each subscale (practical problems, social relations, financial concerns, parent-child relations, and spouse relations), which are summed to yield a total score. The six-month test-retest reliability correlation for the total score was .62 for this sample of 38 women. Ber- man and Turk (1 981) found that the CPC was significantly inversely related to measures of positive mood state and life satisfaction.

Coping strategies. A modified version of Berman and Turk’s (1981) Coping Strate- gies and Resources Inventory (CSRI) was used to assess the strategies the women used to cope with life stressors and strains they had experienced over the last year. Four subscales (learning, personal understanding, autonomy, and home and family activities) with a total of 17 items were used and summed to obtain a total score. Wom- en indicated which coping strategies they had used on a “yes” or “no” basis. The six- month test-retest reliability correlation for the total score was .59 for this sample of 38 women. Berman and Turk (1981) found

this measure to be significantly directly related to measures of positive mood state and life satisfaction.

Emotional well-being. Turner’s (1981) measure of Emotional Well-Being (EWB) was used. It has three subscales (anxiety, anger, and depression), each consisting of five items rated on a five-point scale ranging &om “not at all like me” to “very much like me.” Additionally, the five items of Bradburn’s (1969) Positive Affect measure were included and rated on the same scale. A total score was obtained by summing the scores from the EWB subscales and sub- tracting them from the positive affect subscales. The six-month test-retest reliability correlation for the total score was .59 for this sample of 38 women. Turner (1981) found that new mothers scored higher on this measure of EWB than mothers who were having significant problems in their role as parent.

Positive and negative changes. The women were asked one question about positive and one about negative changes that had occurred since the last interview. The responses were divided into several cate- gories: reduction of stress, abuse, conflict, or fear; control over life, positive outlook,

Table 3 BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISONS ON LIFE STRAINS, COPING, AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

GROUP

SEPARATED (N=l l ) MARRIED (N=27)

SCALE TIME M SD M SD CPC (range, 20-80) T1 42.9 10.1 38.3 9.0

T2 37.8 8.7 35.3 8.4 T3 42.5 10.5 36.1 8.1 T4 39.5 9.5 38.7 9.5

CSRI (range, 0-17) T1 11.7 4.4 7.9 3.3 T2 10.7 2.6 8.8 3.6 T3 10.8 3.5 8.1 3.4 T4 8.6 2.8 7.5 3.0

EWE (range, -70-1 0) T1 -16.4 17.0 -9.7 11 5 T2 -10.7 15.7 -7.8 11.5 T3 -9.4 12 8 -1 1 .o 13.9 T4 -13.3 12.7 -11 1 11.2

Note. CPC=Checklist of Problems and Concerns; N=8 for separated group, 24 for married group. CSRI=Coping Strategies and Resources Inventory; N=9 for separated group, 23 for married group. EWB=Emotional Well-Being; N=9 for separated group, 24 for married group. Ns vary due to missing data.

GEOFFREY NELSON 155

Table 4 BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISONS OF REPORTED POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CHANGES

GROUP

SEPARATED MARRIED

CHANGES Positive changes Reduction of stress, abuse, conflict, fear

Control over life. positive outlook, freedom

Relationship with husband

Friendships, social network

Negative Changes

Psychological or physical

TIME

T1 T2 T3 T4

T i T2 T3 T4

T1 T2 T3 T4

T1 T2 T3 T4

T1 T2 T3

N %

5 45.5% 4 36.4% 2 18.2% 3 27.3%

7 63.6% 5 45.5% 3 27.3% 2 18.2%

0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

1 9.1% 2 10.2% 1 9.1% 3 27.3%

4 36 4% 5 45.5% 1 9.1%

N %

0 0.0% 2 7.4% 0 0.0% 5 18 5%

6 22.2% 4 14.8% 1 3.7% 5 18.5%

9 33.3% 8 29.6% 4 14.8% 9 33.3%

3 11.1% 1 3.7% 2 7.4% 0 0.0%

3 11.1% 4 14.8% 4 14.8%

2 x I l l

14.1' 4.2* 5.2' NS

6.0' 4.1' 4.6' NS

4.8' 4.1' NS 4.8'

NS NS NS 8 0'

NS 4.1' NS

T4 2 18.2% 4 14.0% NS

'p<.05.

freedom; relationship with husband; friendships, social network; and negative psychological or physical change. A second rater coded a sample of the responses to provide a reliability check. Reliability was determined by dividing the number of agreements by the total number of agreements and disagreements and multiplying by 100. Reliability estimates for the codes ranged from 78.8% to 97.0%.

Procedure Information was gathered by in-person

interviews for the first three time periods. All of the interviewers were mature women who had undergone training in interview- ing. The participants completed the CPC, CSRI, and EWB on their own while the interviewers talked with the children. The

participants were paid $15 per interview. To gather data for the final follow-up period, a questionnaire was mailed to the participants with self-addressed, stamped en- velopes enclosed. A research assistant then contacted them to see if the women had received the questionnaires and had any ques- tions, as well as to encourage return of the questionnaires. The women who returned the questionnaires were paid $10. All the women for whom an address was available were sent a summary of the results at the end of the study.

RESULTS First, comparisons between the separated

and married women were made on the stress process variables. Second, correlational and regression analyses were used to examine


the relationships between the variables in the stress process.

Between-Group Comparisons Life strains, coping, and emotional well-

being. The means and standard deviations of the CPC, CSRI, and EWB scores are presented in TABLE 3. To analyze the data, 2 X 4 repeated mixed model ANCOVAs and ANOVAs were used, with marital status as the between factor (two levels) and time as the repeated factor (four levels). Income, coded for equally-spaced intervals of $500 ( e g , &$499, $500-$999), was entered first as a covariate. If the covariate was not significant, an ANOVA was used. Effects ap- proaching the conventional .05 level for Type 1 errors were considered to be significant in view of the limited statistical power provided by the small sample size.

On the CPC, there were significant main effects for income, F(I,29)=3S,p<.OS, and time, F(3,90)=2.4, p<.O8. Low-income women reported higher levels of life strains than did higher-income women. With regard to time, the entire sample of women reported a significant decrease in life strains from TI to T2, t(35)=2.8,P<.Ol. While the level of life strains rose slightly from T2 to T4, this change was not statistically significant. On the CSRI, there was a significant interaction between marital status and time, F(3,96)=2.4,p<.08, as well as main effects for marital status, F(1,32)=4.6,

p<.05, and time, F(3,96)=5.O,p<.Ol. To probe this interaction, paired t-tests were com- puted separately for the separated women and married women on the CSRl total at TI and T4. For the separated women, there was a significant reduction on the CSRl from TI to T4, f(10)=3.4, p<.Ol, while there was no significant difference in CSRl scores for these two time periods for the married women. Finally, the married women had higher scores than the separated women on the EWB at each of the time periods, but these differences were not statistically significant.

Positive and negative changes. Life changes reported by the women are presented in TABLE 4. Proportionately more of the separated women experienced a reduction of stress, abuse, conflict, and fear, and a greater control over life, positive outlook, and freedom at the first three time periods. More of the separated women also experienced negative psychological or physical changes at the first two time periods. By the fourth time-period, proportionately more of the separated women reported positive changes in their social networks. In contrast, the married women reported more positive changes in their relationships with their husbands at three of the four time periods.

Correlational and Regression Analyses Correlational analyses. The correlations

between the total scores of the CPC, CSRI,

Table 5 CORRELATION MATRIX FOR THE CPC, CSRI, AND EWB

TOTAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. CPC (Tl) 2. CPC (T2) 0.62' 3. CPC (T3) 0.63' 0.74' 4. CPC (T4) 0.50' 0.60' 0 65" 5 CSRl (Tl) 0.03 -0.09 -0.04 -0.07 6 CSRl (T2) -0.03 0.04 0.12 0.05 0 59' 7. CSRl (T3) 0.17 0.09 0.08 -0.09 0.70' 0.56' 8. CSRl (T4) 0.23 0.13 0.05 0.17 0.56' 0.56' 0.48' 9. EWB (Tl) -0 54' -0.19 -0.38' -0.35' -0.05 -0.03 -0 11 -0.05 10 EWE (T2) -0.36' -0.26 -044' -0.50' -0.04 -0.07 0.10 -0.15 0.59' 11. EWB (T3) -0 08 -0.09 -0.44' -0.28' -0.04 -0.09 0.05 0.06 0.25 0 64" 12. EWB (T4) -028' -029' -043' -0.59' -0.02 0.08 0.14 0.05 0.34' 0.68' 0.62'

GEOFFREY NELSON 157

Table 6 PREDICTIVE REGRESSION ANALYSES

DEPENDENT VARIABLE (TOTAL) INDEPENDENT VARIABLES fi ? SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Emotional Well-Being (T2) CPC total (Tl) -0.69 0.11 t(35)=1.2 CSRl total (Tl) -0.62 0.14 t(35)=.7 Interaction 0.67 0.15 t(35)=.6 All predicton F(3,33)=1.9

(T3) CPC total (Tl) -0.01 0.08 1(36)=. 0 CSRl total (Ti) 0.08 0.09 1(36)=.1 Interaction -0.14 0.09 t(36)=. 1

F(3,34)=.1 All predictors (T3) CPC total (T2) -1.52 0.01 1(32)=3.0'

CSRl total (T2) -2.18 0.02 1(32)=3.1' Interaction 2.64 0.25 t(32)=3.0' All predictors F(3,30)=3.3'

(T4) CPC total (Tl) -0.98 0.08 1(36)=1.7 CSRl total (Tl) -1.16 0.08 1(36)=1.3 Interaction 1.40 0.12 t(36)=1.3 All predictors

(T4) CPC total (T2) -1.57 0.08 1(32)=3.2' CSRl total (T2) -1.75 0.09 1(32)=2.5' Interaction 2.35 0.27 1(32)=2.7' All predictors F(3,30)=3.7

(T4) CPC total (T3) -0.75 0.18 1(32)=1.5 CSRl total (T3) -0.39 0.21 t(32)=.5 Interaction 0.66 0.22 t(32)=.7 All predictors F(3,30)=2.9

F(3,34)=1.6

and EWB at each of the four time periods are presented in TABLE 5. Not only were CPC scores related to EWB assessed at the same time periods (i.e., cross-sectional analyses), but the CPC scores at TI , T2, and T3 all significantly predicted EWB at T4. However, the CSRI was not significantly related to EWB in either cross-sectional or longitudinal analyses.

Predictive regression analyses. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if the CPC, CSRI, and CPC X CSRl interactions predicted EWB at later time intervals. The separated and married women were combined in these analyses because of the small sample sizes. Six predictive models were tested (see TABLE 6). There were two significant models; the CPC, CSRI, and CPC x CSRl interactions assessed at the second time period predicted EWB at the third and fourth time periods, accounting for 27% and 22% of the vari- ance, respectively. In each case, there was a significant interaction between the CPC

and CSRI. To interpret the significant interaction terms, the level of EWB predicted by the equation was calculated, given the levels of CPC at + I and - 1 standard deviations and levels of CSRI at + I and -1 standard deviations. The results were consistent with the stress-buffering hypothesis; the relationship between the CPC and EWB was strongest at -1 standard deviation on the CSRl and weakest at + I standard deviation on the CSRI.

DISCtISSION Emotional Well-Being

In comparing recently separated and married women, no significant difference in emotional well-being was evident. Since the married women reported higher levels of well-being than the separated women, the failure to find a significant difference may have been due to a lack of statistical power resulting from the small sample size.

It is also possible that the separated and married women in this study did not differ

FOLLOW-UP OF SEPARATED AND MARRIED WOMEN

in terms of emotional well-being because the sample of married women was unrepre- sentative of the general population of married women. The low response rate for married women and the fact that they had re- sponded to a call for participants in a study about family stress may indicate that this sample of married women had relatively high levels of stress and low levels of emotional well-being. However, the finding that marital status is unrelated to emotional well-being is consistent with several recent studies (Amato & Partridge, 1987; Nelson, 1982, 1989; Tcheng-La Roche & Prince, 1983; Weissman et al., 1987).

Life Strains Similarly, while the separated women had

higher levels of life strains than the married women, this difference was not significant when income was controlled for. This re- sult suggests that the life strains that pose challenges for single-parent women are more related to low income than to marital separation. Colletta (1983), however, reported that both income and marital status were related to single-parent women’s per- ceptions of life strains.

Both separated and married women reported significant reductions in life strains from the first to second interviews. In contrast, other studies have found greater reductions of life strain and problems over time for separated or divorced women than for married women (Hetherington et al., 1978; McLanahan, 1983; Wilcox, 1986). The study was described as dealing with family stress, and many of the married women who self-selected for it were under considerable stress, particularly financial, at the first interview. Thus, both groups of women reported high levels of stress at the first interview. The finding of reduced life strains from the first to second interview is consistent with a family crisis model (Hill, 1949; McCubbin & Patterson. 1983), ac- cording to which a family mobilizes existing resources or develops new resources when confronted with stressors and strains.

If the coping efforts are successful, then stress levels should be reduced and the family system should begin to restabilize within a few months.

Coping The findings regarding coping and life

changes suggest that separation and its con- comitant life strains may activate growth- oriented coping. Separated women initially used more growth-oriented coping, such as becoming more autonomous and furthering their education, and experienced more positive changes, such as increased confidence and feelings of control, than did married women. However, these differences dimin- ished over time. The separated women may have had to develop more new resources initially than the married women to cope with the strains arising from the separation. In a study of families in which the husbands or fathers were held captive or were missing in action in the Vietnam War, Mc- Cubbin and Patterson (1983) found that many women changed their roles in the family and became more independent and self-confident. It could be that women who initiate separation are more growth-oriented than women whose husbands initiate separation. Since information on initiator status was not collected for the present study, however, it is not possible to examine this hypothesis here.

In contrast, the stressors that the married women faced may not have demanded changes in self and family but, rather, in- vestment of self into family and work, The married women reported positive changes in their relationships with their husbands. Thus, the coping strategies of married women may involve strengthening existing resources within the family, whereas the coping strategies of separated women appear to involve development of new resources.

The regression analyses showed that growth-oriented coping strategies served a stress-buffering function. Growth-oriented coping, assessed at the second time period, buffered the impact of life strains on subse-

GEOFFREY NELSON 159

quent emotional well-being. While previ- ous research had found evidence to demon- strate the stress-buffering role of coping in cross-sectional studies (Aldwin & Reven- son, 1987; Billings & Moos, 1981; Mitchell el al., 1983), the present study provides support for that role in a longitudinal study.

Directions for Research Further research is needed to determine

the mechanism by which coping buffers the impact of life strains on emotional well-being. Researchers have suggested that individual and family coping efforts may reduce the impact of stressors and strains on emotional well-being in several different ways: reducing or eliminating the problem that is causing the distress, changing one’s appraisal of the stressors, managing the emotional ten- sion arising from the stressors, maintaining or enhancing individual and family self-es- teem, developing new resources to meet de- mands, etc. (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983; Menaghan, 1983). The present study’s finding that separated and married women did not differ in emotional well-being may be due to high levels of growth-oriented coping by the separated women, enabling them to reduce the negative emotional impact of the high levels of life strains that they experienced. Unfortunately, the sample sizes were too small to test the stress- buffering hypothesis separately for the single-parent and married women. Future research with larger sample sizes is needed to test the hypothesis that interaction between strains and coping has significantly stronger effects on emotional well-being for separated women than for married women, and to probe the nature of coping’s stress-buffering effect by examining some of the potential mechanisms identified above.

There are several implications of these results for future research. First, the finding about the importance of income reinforces the recommendation of reviewers of the literature (Gorlick, 1988; Mednick, 1987; Nel- son, 1985) that more attention be devoted to the conditions of poverty in which many

single-parent women and their children live. Second, the findings regarding coping and positive life changes support the hypothesis that such stressful life changes as marital separation can lead to growth as well as to problems (Kraus, 1979). The growth reported by the separated women in the present study supports the argument that future research should focus more on strengths, competence, and growth following separation (Gorlick, 1988; Nelson, 1985). Third, the interaction between marital status and time on coping and positive life changes points to the need for longitudinal designs. Peters (1983) has argued that, following separation, women and men move from a stage of “disengaging” to a stage of “re-engaging.” The present findings support this assertion. Initially, the separated women reported less stress and more independence, but later they reported developing new friendships and close relationships with men.

The small sample sizes were a major limi- tation of this study. However, the fact that the reduced samples did not differ measurably from the larger, original samples suggests that small sample size posed more of a problem of reduced statistical power than of sample rep- resentativeness. On the other hand, the incor- poration of statistical controls for income level, the attention to the stressful life context of single-parent women, the focus on strengths, and the long-term (five and one- half year) follow-up design with standardized assessment intervals were important features of this study. These conceptual and methodological aspects of the research shed a different light on the dynamics of marital separation than that of earlier studies, which focused on the pathological aspects of divorce. Future research with larger sample sizes is needed to explore further some of the issues identified in this discussion.

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For reprints: Geoffrey Nelson, Ph.D., Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Psychology, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3c5

emotional well-being of separated and married women : long-term follow-up study

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