Date Approved

5-3-1999

Embargo Period

7-21-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School Psychology

Department

Educational Services and Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Klanderman, John

Subject(s)

Children of divorced parents; College students--Psychology

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of divorce on late adolescents' levels of conflictual independence during the separation-individuation process.

The sample consisted of 94 undergraduate students from Rowan University in southern New Jersey. This was a between subjects research design which involved a self-report inventory. Levels of conflictual independence were measured by the conflictual independence subscale (Cl) of Hoffman's Psychological Separation Inventory, a 138 question inventory which asks questions about one's relationships with the mother and father.

The statistical test used to analyze the data in this study was a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) as well as two nonparametric tests. Results of the MANOVA showed no significance for the suggested relationships between parental marital status, gender, and levels of conflictual independence. However, gender and percentiles of father scores were found to be significantly correlated when a Kendall's tau-c was calculated.

Factors which may have influenced the study were sample size, age of the child at the time of divorce, place of residence, testing conditions, and type of measure used.

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