Inner-city, poor children of divorce: Negative divorce-related events, problematic beliefs and adjustment problems

This study examined the relations between negative divorce-related events, four types of beliefs about the divorce and the adjustment problems of 35 inner-city, poor children of divorce. Both parental and children’s perspectives on children’s adjustment were obtained. Negative divorce-related events were significantly, positively related to both children’s and parents’ reports of adjustment problems. Only one type of belief about divorce, fear of abandonment, was significantly, positively related to both children’s and parents’ reports of adjustment problems. Beliefs involving maternal lame were marginally related to parental reports of children’s adjustment problems. The implications of these findings for interventions for poor children of divorce are discussed.