Smollar, J. & Youniss, J. (1985). Parent-adolescent relations in adolescents whose parents are divorced. Journal of Early Adolescence, 5, pp. 129-144.

OVERVIEW

Analysis of the results of a questionnaire given to forty-eight students at a middle class high school whose parents are divorced.

RESULTS

Three different groupings of adolescent attitudes toward their parents appeared:

Group A. Negative feelings toward mother; mixed feelings toward father.

Analysis of each group:

• In group A, the father was very removed ("mixed" in this case meaning nonexistent) from the family, and the mother was required to take over the full instrumental role of the father. The mother lost her affirming role; there was little openness or communication.
• In group B, the father was still present and continued to take an authoritarian stance. As a result, the mother became affirming and the mother-child relationship was very close. Pampering is often the result of such a situation.
• In group C, the father maintained an instrumental role and the mother took on a combination of instrumental and supportive tasks.

IMPLICATIONS

• Group A is very disconnected; an adolescent within this group would need a large amount of support and open, nonjudgmental communication before he or she could be led into a new lifestyle.
• The group B adolescent will often be tightly bound to the mother and may need assistance in becoming an individual.
• Group C is relatively stable and conforms to the overall norm of a two-parent family. Unfortunately, only one third of the single-parent, mother-cared-for adolescents belong to this category.
• All of the adolescents in these groups need to have a "significant other adult" in their lives who can help them process their feelings, hurts, and desires. Through this person (an aunt, an older cousin, or even a youth worker), healing can begin by reconciling feelings with circumstances and understanding the people who have caused them.