Children of Divorce: Adolescent Female Self-Concept, Attitudes, Counseling Needs, and Father-Daughter Relationships.

Abstract

This investigation examined the impact of divorce on the self-concept, father-daughter relationships, attitudes, and counseling needs of 321 high school adoloscent females in grades ten through twelve. Two target populations of equal size were identified: adolescent girls from divorced families where the mother was identified as the "head of the household"; and a r and om sample of adolescent girls identified as living in "natural parent intact families." A stratified systematic sampling technique for three grade levels, inclusively, resulted in the participation of 150 adolescent girls from divorced family circumstances, and 171 adolescent girls from intact family circumstances. The two groups of adolescent females were administered the Tennessee Self Concept Scale. In addition, these groups were asked to respond to researcher developed items pertaining to father-daughter relations, attitudes, and counseling needs. It was found that the Total Positive Score differed significantly between females based on grade levels. This grade level effect emerged for females in both the intact and divorced family groups. In both groups, self concept was found to correlate positively and significantly with perceptions of the father-daughter relationship. Finally, adoloscent girls from divorced families indicated significantly more liberal attitudes toward pre-marital sex. Contrary to expectation, no significant difference in self-concept emerged between females from divorced family circumstances and females from intact family circumstances. Similarly, no significant differences emerged between the two groups for scores on attitudes toward marriage and divorce. Based on these findings it is suggested that counselors direct attention toward the following: (1) "counseling needs" of adolescent girls from divorced families, (2) the use of peer and group counseling for teenagers from divorced or separating families, and (3) conducting research in educational settings in order to systematically isolate personal variables which are altered as a result of parental separation and divorce.