ABSTRACT
Divorce often produces a chain of stressors (e.g., decline in income, loneliness, role burden, parenting across households, loss of social networks, parental conflict, and moving to a new neighborhood) that challenge family members’ ability to cope with everyday life. Although the precise impact of these stressors on family functioning continues to be a point of contention (see Amato, 2000), most scholars, practitioners, and family members agree that divorce is a stressful experience. Divorce provides opportunities to escape an unhealthy environment and build new relationships for some people, perhaps enhancing their well-being. For others, it creates an acute and often chronic source of stress that can persist years before and after the physical separation (see Amato; Hetherington, 1999; Lamb, Sternberg, & Thompson, 1999). Regardless of the extent of the stress, divorce is never a victimless process (Lamb, 1999). Most people suffer a deep sense of personal, familial, or relational loss as the result of a divorce (Lamb et al.).
