The Influence of Parents' and Children's Union Formation and Dissolution on Adult Children's Attitudes toward Divorce

Mick Cunningham, Western Washington University
Arland Thornton, University of Michigan

Data from a thirty-one year, intergenerational panel study are used to investigate the influence of parents' marital dissolution and parents' attitudes toward divorce early in children's lives on adult children's attitudes toward divorce. We also examine the impact of children's union formation and dissolution between the ages of 18 and 31 on their subsequent attitudes toward divorce. Among the children, we consider the influences of entering a first cohabitation, entering a first marriage, dissolving a first cohabitation, and divorcing from a first marriage. We find that parental divorce followed by remarriage increases adult children's tolerance of divorce, as do mothers' attitudes toward divorce. Among children, divorce from a first marriage dramatically increases children's acceptance of divorce. Conversely, entry into a marriage decreases children's acceptance of divorce. Those who enter stable marriages after first cohabiting are substantially more tolerant of divorce than those who enter stable marriages without first cohabiting.