Self-Blame and Self-Esteem in College-Aged Children from Divorced Families

Summary

The relationship between self-blame and self-esteem among students from divorced and non-divorced families was compared. Published scales were used to assess current and retrospective reports of self-esteem and self-blame for students from divorced and non-divorced families. Students from divorced families reported lower retrospective self-esteem and more self-blame than students from non-divorced families. However, self-esteem scores of students from divorced families did appear to recover with time. These results demonstrate that retrospective self-report can be a useful tool for exploring the long-term effects of parental divorce among college students.

Key Words:

• College students
• divorce
• self-esteem