Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1996

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Marla Peterson

Committee Members

Mike Smith, Priscilla Blanton, William Poppen

Abstract

Three variables that the literature supports as affecting women's psychological adjustment after divorce are: (a) social support, (b) socioeconomic well-being, and (c) attitudes toward women's roles. While there is empirical data in each of these areas, systematic data about the way self-efficacy affects how the other variables predict adjustment experiences of women following divorce are virtually nonexistent. The sample consisted of 103 women legally divorced for 0-5 years. The purpose of the present study was (1) to investigate the effects of four variables on women's psychological adjustment after divorce: social support (SS), socioeconomic well-being (SEWB), attitudes toward women's roles (ATWR), and self-efficacy (SE), and (2) to investigate the interaction between SE and each of the other variables (SS, SEWB, ATWR) in predicting women's psychological adjustment after divorce. This study began to consider the role that each of these four variables plays in the divorce adjustment process. SS, SEWB, and ATWR were examined as protective resources against the stress of divorce for women. Women's self-efficacy beliefs regarding their ability to adjust after divorce were examined as a moderator in these relationships. The measures included: (a) Demographic Material, (b) the Social Provisions Scale (SS), (c) the Socioeconomic Well-Being Measure (SEWB), (d) the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (ATWR), (e) the Self-Efficacy Scale (SE), and (f) the General Well Being Schedule (Psychological Adjustment). Multiple regression analysis was used to study the relationships among these variables. Social support, socioeconomic well-being, and self-efficacy were found to contribute significantly to the prediction of psychological adjustment after divorce; however, neither attitudes toward women's roles nor the interactions of the other variables with self-efficacy were found to do SO.

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