Consequences of Divorce for Parents

In this chapter, we trace the consequences of the process of becoming divorced on the parents. Thus, we trace the consequences for adults who divorce who have children. There is a separate and largely nonoverlapping literature on childless dissolutions. Generally, these impacts are milder and of shorter duration, in the sense that recovery is almost always rather swift (Masheter, 1991; Metts & Cupach, 1995). The consequences for the children of divorce are reviewed elsewhere in this handbook (chap. 15 by Barber and Demo).