Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion

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This finding looks at the relationship between family structure and quality of romantic relationships.

Compared with peers who were raised in a home with married parents, males whose parents never married were significantly less likely to marry and were more likely to cheat and walk out on their romantic partners. Women with divorced parents had significantly higher rates of cohabitation and marriage but also had higher rates of dysfunction, such as walking out on their partner and divorce. Women whose parents never married were also more likely to cohabit with and walk out on their partners than women from homes with married parents.

Sample or Data Description
Substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect from 1967 to 1971 were matched on gender, age, race, and approximate family class with non-abused and non-neglected children and followed prospectively into adulthood. Between 1989 and 1995, 1,196 participants (676 abused and neglected and 520 controls) were administered a 2-hour, in-person interview, including a psychiatric assessment and a variety of standardized rating scales.

Source
"Childhood Abuse and Adult Intimate Relationships: A Prospective Study"
Colman, Rebecca A.
Widon, Cathy Spatz
Child Abuse & Neglect Vol. 28, Number 11. November, 2004. Page(s) 1133-1151.

FindingID: 7508