Gender roles and adjustment in children of divorce.

Abstract

Gender role and aspects of behavioral and emotional adjustment were assessed in 55 second through fifth grade children of divorce. From a pool of four elementary schools within a single school district, approximately 45% of the families who had experienced a divorce agreed to participate. The sample was Caucasian and modally upper-middle class. Gender roles were measured by means of a modified Personality Attributes Questionnaire completed by both the custodial mother and the child, as well as a recently developed activity preference scale for the child and his or her same-sex ideal. Self-report adjustment measures included the Children's Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, and the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Mothers rated their children's behavior on the Child Behavior Check List. Predictor variables included presence of a father-surrogate, age at time of divorce (and remarriage, if applicable), frequency of father's visitation, maternal employment, maternal self-esteem measured by the Rosenberg Self Esteem Inventory, and maternal psychopathology assessed on the Brief Symptom Inventory. Age differences were found in children's self-report on gender role measures, with the younger children more stereotyped in personality traits and activity preference. Presence of a father surrogate was associated with less stereotyped gender roles as described by the children themselves. However, mothers who had remarried viewed their sons as more stereotyped and their daughters as less stereotyped than single mothers. There were discrepancies between maternal and child perceptions of the children's adjustment. Very few significant results emerged for the self-report instruments. Maternal reports of children's adjustment were significantly influenced by the mother's self-esteem and psychopathology.