Divorce is estimated by 1990 to affect one third of all children under 18. In 90 percent of divorces involving children, the mother has primary child custody. While some divorces may have a positive impact, a survey of research literature suggests that divorce usually has a negative impact on the development of children and that an important variable mediating that impact may be the quality of parenting by recently-divorced, single-parent mothers, who may be in crisis over new demands upon their skills and energy. Researchers hypothesized that both mother and child would be better off if the mother gained more skill in structured, rational and nurturing parenting, an authoritative parenting style. / To test this hypothesis, an experiment was conducted with ten volunteer, recently-divorced, single-parent mothers with sons in elementary school. To optimize insight into individual mother's experience, a single-subject design was employed, which used both multiple-baseline/between subject and experimental/control group comparisons. Seven mothers were assigned, by order of arrival, to a nine-week, low-cost, behavioral parenting treatment believed to develop authoritative parenting skills. The three control mothers were given a parallel experience in which they discussed popular magazine articles on divorce. Data were collected on indices of crisis (depression, anxiety, and helplessness), child behavior problems and social competence, and maternal parenting behavior, using both self-report and structured home observations. / The data support the claim that the parent training had a positive impact on child behavior problems and social competence but did not have a consistent impact on maternal parenting styles. Nor was it possible to attribute the general improvement of the mothers on the indices of crisis to the treatment. It appears that, despite the fairly restrictive criteria for inclusion, the recently-divorced, single-parent mothers differed widely in their circumstances and needs. Each experimental mother seems to have chosen from the parenting treatment according to her circumstances and needs in such a way as to benefit her son but not to affect a uniform change in parenting. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-10, Section: B, page: 4303. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75951 |
| Contributors | KERR, DONALD R., JR., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 173 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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