ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an evidence relevant to numerous interrelated questions concerning the relation between disruption of familial relationships due to divorce and offsprings' beliefs about and behaviors in romantic relationships. The emotional tenor of offspring's romantic relationships had more to do with the amount of conflict in relationships between the parents than whether a divorce had occurred. Various theoretical positions argue that parental divorce will affect the development of romantic and sexual relationships among offspring. Case reports on male offspring are more likely to focus on other aspects of genderrole development. Several studies have considered whether offspring of single parents differ from those of two-parent families in their dating or courtship behaviors. Studies of adolescents and of college students provide little evidence that offspring of single parents differ dramatically from those of two parents in their dating activities. Both psychoanalytic and social learning theories predict that homosexuality should be more common among children reared in fatherless families.
