Exploring Associations Between Children’s Forgiveness Following Parental Divorce and Psychological Well-Being

Figures & data

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and frequencies of main variables (study 1–4).

	Study 1 Children n = 205 M (SD)	Study 2 Adolescents/Young Adults n = 218 M (SD)	Study 3 Young Adults n = 452 M (SD)	Study 4 Young Adults n = 160 M (SD)
Age	10.25 (0.95)	17.46 (2.32)	21.81 (2.00)	21.49 (1.99)
% Female	52.2%	88.1%	89.8%	76.3%
% Living on their own	-	7.8%	61.7%	71.9%
Parental conflict frequency (1–7)	3.34 (2.08)	2.33^a (1.21)	1.58^a (0.95)	0.77^b (1.76)
Parental conflict severity (1–7)	-	-	-	3.38 (1.76)
Time since divorce in years	-	-	-	8.99 (5.78)
Grade for life (1–10)	8.13 (1.64)	5.87 (1.49)	7.32 (0.94)	-
Satisfaction with life (1–7)	-	3.76 (1.28)	5.13 (0.96)	4.82 (1.07)
Subjective happiness (1–7)	4.14 (0.89)^a	3.86 (1.39)	5.40 (1.11)	4.60 (1.16)
% Contact father: yes	99.5%	89.9%	95.4%	86.9%
% Contact mother: yes	100%	97.7%	99.3%	98.1%
Relationship quality father (1–7)	5.87 (1.61)	4.13 (2.16)	4.46 (1.92)	4.92 (1.44)
Relationship quality mother (1–7)	6.44 (1.03)	5.09 (1.91)	5.75 (1.44)	5.71 (1.29)
Divorce-specific forgiveness (1–7)	5.46 (1.88)	3.36 (1.24)	4.31 (0.97)	-
Divorce-specific forgiveness father (1–7)	-	-	-	5.51 (1.67)
Divorce-specific forgiveness mother (1–7)	-	-	-	6.18 (1.17)

Note. ^arange = 1–5, ^b Open-ended question: How often are your parents in conflict with each other on average on a weekly basis?.

Table 2. Regression of grade for life with Divorce-specific Forgiveness and controls as predictors (study 1–3).

	Study 1 Children (n = 205)					Study 2 Adolescents/Young Adults (n = 218)					Study 3 Young Adults (n = 452)
	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p
Divorce-specific forgiveness	.12	−.02	.23	1.64	.103	.22	.11	.42	3.32	.001	.22	.13	.31	4.84	<.001
Contact father^a	.03	−2.50	3.89	0.43	.668	−.05	−.90	.38	−0.80	.427	−.12	−.91	−.11	−2.51	.013
Contact mother^a	-	-	-	-	-	.06	−.74	1.83	0.84	.402	.07	−.27	1.81	1.45	.148
Parental conflict frequency	−.07	−.17	.06	−0.97	.334	−.24	−.45	−.14	−3.72	<.001	−.06	−.15	−.03	−1.26	.208
Gender^b	−.20	−1.10	−.21	−2.87	.005	−.05	−.84	.35	−0.82	.414	−.02	−.34	.22	−0.42	.675
Age	−.12	−.44	.03	−1.74	.084	−.07	−.13	.04	−0.99	.321	.02	−.04	.06	0.46	.650
Living situation^c	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	.07	.05	.33	1.45	.147
	F(5, 199) = 2.85, p = .016, R^2 = .07					F(6, 211) = 4.79, p < .001, R^2 = .12					F(7, 444) = 5.87, p < .001, R^2 = .09

Note. ^a Contact father/mother 0 = yes, 1 = no; ^b Gender 0 = male, 1 = female; ^c Living situation 0 = with parents, 1 = on own.

Table 3. Regression of satisfaction with life with Divorce-specific Forgiveness and controls as predictors (study 2–4).

	Study 2 Adolescents/Young Adults (n = 218)					Study 3 Young Adults (n = 452)					Study 4 Young adults (n = 160)
	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p
Divorce-specific forgiveness	.23	.11	.37	3.64	<.001	.24	.15	.33	5.14	<.001
Divorce-specific forgiveness father											.02	−.11	.14	0.24	.807
Divorce-specific forgiveness mother											.17	−.01	.32	1.81	.072
Contact father^a	−.11	−1.00	.08	−1.67	.097	−.01	−.46	.36	−0.23	.817	−.22	−1.31	−.08	−2.24	.026
Contact mother^a	−.01	−1.13	1.03	−0.09	.927	−.02	−1.29	.83	−0.43	.668	−.01	−1.46	1.25	−0.16	.877
Parental conflict frequency	−.25	−.40	−.13	−3.92	<.001	−.11	−.21	−.02	−2.47	.014	.09	−.05	.16	1.07	.287
Parental conflict severity											−.10	−.17	.05	−1.14	.258
Time since divorce											.08	−.02	.05	0.98	.327
Gender^b	−.09	−.84	.16	−1.34	.181	.01	−.25	.33	0.27	.789	.06	−.26	.56	0.72	.473
Age	−.08	−.12	.03	−1.28	.202	−.09	−.09	.00	−1.84	.066	.02	−.08	.11	0.26	.799
Living situation^c	-	-	-	-	-	.17	.14	.53	3.33	<.001	.08	−.21	.59	0.96	.337
	F(6, 211) = 6.06, p < .001, R^2 = .15					F(7, 444) = 7.39, p < .001, R^2 = .10					F(10, 149) = 2.35, p = .013, R^2 = .14

Note. ^a Contact father/mother 0 = yes, 1 = no; ^b Gender 0 = male, 1 = female; ^c Living situation 0 = with parents, 1 = on own.

Table 4. Regression of subjective happiness with Divorce-specific Forgiveness and controls as predictors (study 1–4).

	Study 1 Children (n = 205)					Study 2 Adolescents/Young Adults (n = 218)
	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p
Divorce-specific forgiveness	.03	−.05	.09	0.47	.642	.21	.09	.38	3.27	.001
Contact father^a	−.01	−1.91	1.62	−0.16	.873	−.02	−.69	.49	−0.33	.743
Contact mother^a	-	-	-	-	-	.07	−.57	1.81	1.03	.305
Parental conflict frequency	−.15	−.13	−.00	−2.03	.044	−.24	−.42	−.13	−3.75	<.001
Gender^b	−.04	−.31	.18	−0.51	.609	−.07	−.84	.26	−1.06	.292
Age	−.07	−.07	.19	0.95	.345	−.08	−.13	.03	−1.27	.207
	F(5, 199) = 1.35, p = .244, R^2 = .03					F(6, 211) = 4.92, p < .001, R^2 = .12
	Study 3 Young Adults (n = 452)					Study 4 Young Adults (n = 163)
	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p	β	CIlow	CIhigh	t	p
Divorce-specific forgiveness	.20	.13	.34	4.31	<.001
Divorce-specific forgiveness father						.03	−.11	.16	0.35	.729
Divorce-specific forgiveness mother						.22	.03	.40	2.34	.020
Contact father^a	−.01	−.54	.43	−0.22	.823	−.08	−.93	.41	−0.77	.442
Contact mother^a	.02	−1.03	1.49	0.36	.719	.04	−1.17	1.80	0.42	.677
Parental conflict frequency	−.08	−.21	.01	−1.76	.079	.13	−.02	.20	1.56	.120
Parental conflict severity						−.10	−.19	.05	−1.17	.246
Time since divorce						.04	−.02	.04	0.53	.599
Gender^b	.00	−.34	.34	0.3	.980	.13	−.10	.79	1.53	.128
Age	−.01	−.06	.05	−0.18	.860	.10	−.04	.16	1.13	.260
Living situation^c	.08	−.06	.40	1.47	.141	.10	−.18	.70	1.18	.239
	F(7, 444) = 4.10, p < .001, R^2 = .06					F(10, 149) = 1.87, p = .053, R^2 = .11

Note. ^a Contact father/mother 0 = yes, 1 = no; ^b Gender 0 = male, 1 = female; ^c Living situation 0 = with parents, 1 = on own.