The Intergenerational Transmission of Union Instability in Early Adulthood

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12384
• Author: Sarah E. Patterson,Paul R. Amato
• Published date: 01 June 2017
• Date: 01 June 2017

P R. A  S E. P Pennsylvania State University

The Intergenerational Transmission of Union

Instability in Early Adulthood

Research on the intergenerational transmission

of divorce should be expanded to incorporate

disrupted nonmarital cohabitations. This study

(a) examined the transmission of union insta-

bility from parents to offspring using data from

the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent

to Adult Health, (b) replaced binary variables

(divorced vs. nondivorced) typically used in

this literature with count variables (number of

disrupted unions), (c) relied on independent

sources for data on parents’ and offspring’s

union disruptions to minimize same-source bias,

(d) assessed the mediating role of theoretically

derived variables (many not previously consid-

ered in this literature), and (e) incorporated

information on discord in intact parentalunions.

Parent and offspring union disruptions were

positively linked, with each parental disruption

associated with a 16% increase in the number of

offspring disruptions, net of controls. The medi-

ators collectively accounted for 44% of the esti-

mated intergenerational effect. Parent discordin

intact unions was associated with more offspring

disruptions.

Although since the 1930s family scholars have

speculated that divorce runs in families (e.g.,

Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University,

201 Oswald Tower,University Park, PA 16802–6207

(pxa6@psu.edu).

This article was edited by Kelly Raley.

Key Words: couple relationships, dissolution, divorce,inter-

generational issues, young adults.

Burgess & Cottrell, 1939), the rst empirical evi-

dence for the intergenerational transmission of

divorce (ITD) was not presented until the 1950s

(Landis, 1955). Since then, 25 studies on this

topic have been published, and almost all have

shown that divorce is correlated across gener-

ations (e.g., Amato, 1996; Amato & DeBoer,

2001). Although most of these studies were con-

ducted in the United States, the ITD also has

been reported in Australia, Canada, England,

and many continental European countries (Diek-

mann & Schmidheiny, 2013; D’Onofrio et al.,

2007; Dronkers & Harkonen, 2008; Kiernan &

Cherlin, 1999). Wedo not know whether the ITD

exists in other parts of the world, but it appears

to be a feature of most developed Western

societies.

In 1987, Merton published a classic article

in which he discussed the importance of estab-

lishing the phenomenon (Merton, 1987). As he

argued, scholars sometimes fail to establish that

a phenomenon really exists before they attempt

to explain it. In the present case, the ITD appears

to be a real phenomenon—perhaps as well estab-

lished as any nding in the social sciences.

Debate exists about whether the ITD has become

weaker in the United States in recent decades (Li

& Wu, 2008; Wolnger, 1999, 2011), but even

if the ITD has diminished in strength, marital

instability in the family of origin continues to

be one of the most reliable predictors of adult

divorce. What is less clear is why the ITD exists,

whether it involves divorceor all forms of union

instability, or even if intergenerationaltransmis-

sion occurs in a causal or merely descriptive

sense.

Journal of Marriage and Family 79 (June 2017): 723–738 723

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12384

724 Journal of Marriage and Family

This article extends previous work on the ITD

in several ways. We argue that recent demo-

graphic trends have made it necessary to move

beyond divorce and focus on union instabil-

ity more generally. Following this approach, we

present new estimates of the intergenerational

transmission of union instability (ITUI) in early

adulthood using data from the National Longitu-

dinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add

Health) (Harris, 2009). Contrary to most prior

studies, we use independent sources for data on

parent and offspring union instability. We also

examine the role of variables derived from mul-

tiple theoretical frameworks in mediating the

transmission of instability across generations.

Finally, we consider the possibility that stable

but troubled parent unions also might destabilize

future offspring unions.

E

Although the ITD has been replicated fre-

quently, it is less clear why union instability is

correlated across generations. Figure 1 outlines

the following factors that may account for this

phenomenon: poor relationships skills, non-

traditional attitudes, risky life course choices,

restricted educational attainment, emotional

insecurity, and cumulative stress. Each of these

terms represents a mediating process (or mech-

anism) through which parent union instability

might affect offspring union instability. The

gure also includes parent characteristics that

may affect instability in both generations and,

hence, result in a spurious association: race and

ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religiosity, and

personality (which we assume has a genetic

component).

Poor Relationship Skills

Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) holds

that children learn about partner relationships

from observing their parents. When parents

have happy and stable relationships, children

have frequent opportunities to learn positive

relationship skills, such as how to communicate

clearly, resolve conict amicably, and show

emotional support. If parents with unhappy and

unstable relationships do not model these skills,

children have limited opportunities to learn them

elsewhere. Consequently, many children from

unstable families of origin reach adulthood with-

out the skills necessary to achieve satisfying

long-term unions. Although this explanation

is compelling, it has proved difcult to test

because few data sets contain the necessary

variables. Consistent with this perspective,

however, Amato (1996) found that adults with

F . C M   I T  U I.