THE BOOKSHELF

• Date: 01 April 1994
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1994.tb00342.x
• Published date: 01 April 1994

THE

BOOKSHELF

Portrait

of

Divorce:

Adjustment

to

Marital

Breakdown

Kay

C.

Kitson

with

William

M.

Holmes

Guilford

Press,

New

York,

1992

Portrait

of

Divorce

is a major study of the impact of divorce on families, with a

focus on postdivorce adjustment for the former adult partners. The study has a

longitudinal design, with the 203 divorcing participants being interviewed at three

different points in

the

divorce process (at the time

of

filing for divorce;

1

year after

the divorce decree; and

2

or 3 years after the decree). In addition, the investigator

selected a comparison sample of married couples, who were matched with the

divorcing couples (i.e., each married couple was matched with a divorcing couple,

from the same city block of residence). The interviews occurred in Cuyahoga County,

Ohio (metropolitan Cleveland), and were conducted between 1974

and

1979. Even

though children were not interviewed, a chapter is devoted to how parents perceive

their children to have been affected by the divorce.

In addition, three other Cuyahoga County divorce samples

are

examined,

the

first

two

of which are based on divorce court records. First, “a marital transition study” of

women (1985-1986) was reexamined by Kitson. She found these subjects “replied

similarly” (p. 339), responding vely much like the subjects in her own 1974-1979

study. Second, the results of a 1980 cross-sectional study of persons who had

withdrawn their divorce petitions (originally filed in 1974-1975; or, in 1977-1978)

are

also examined. Finally, the

results

of a third study

(also

in 1980) not based on

divorce court records are compared to/contrasted with Kitson’s sample. This final

study was a countywide, multistage random survey of marital status, separations,

reconciliations, and psychological health.

Rejecting the view that divorce represents moral, social, or psychological devi-

ance, Kitson ascribes

to

a model

of

divorce

as

an adjustment to loss and change.

An

attempt

is

made to identify characteristics distinguishing those who adjust relatively

well to divorce from those who adjust poorly. What individual characteristics or prior

experiences

are

likely to make one individual more vulnerable than another to the

negative effects of divorce? The investigator uses four measures to operationalize her

concept of adjustment, which include a measure

of

subjective

stress,

of

attachment,

of self-esteem, and

of

“illness contacts” (i.e., number

of

times

stayed in bed for

a

day,

number of contacts with a doctor, and hospitalization).

Kitson

found her divorce

subjects experienced more subjective stress, lower self-esteem, and higher levels of

attachment and illness contacts, than her married comparison samples.

When Kitson compared her primary divorced sample (1974-1979) with the

married comparison sample, she

also

found the divorced were more likely than the

FAMUY

AND

CONCILIATION

COURTS

REVIEW,

Vol.

32

NO.

2,

April

1994 249-252

8

1994

Sage

F’ublications,

Inc.

249