Self-esteem and adjustment in adolescents from bereaved, divorced, and intact families: Family type versus family environment

Abstract

This study dealt with the long-term effects of father absence as a consequence of bereavement or divorce on adolescents' self-esteem and adjustment. The relative strengths of two models were compared. The first, a family deficit model, predicted poorer outcomes for adolescents from disrupted families than for adolescents from intact families. The second, a family environment model, predicted that the quality of family interaction, rather than family type, would influence adolescents outcomes. Three closely matched groups of 18 mother-adolescent dyads (N = 54) from bereaved, divorced, and intact families were interviewed. The results did not support the family deficit model. Whereas family type accounted for less than 1% of the variance in measures of adolescent self-esteem and adjustment, family environment accounted for between 12% and 29% of the variance. It is argued that family type is too crude a concept to capture the complexity of family influence on adolescent well-being. Instead, the value of examining family processes in conjunction with broader sociological classifications of families is emphasized.