ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses several fundamental questions about divorce such as “How common is divorce?” “Who gets divorced?” and “What are the societal (e.g., cultural attitudes toward divorce) and individual (e.g., personality) factors that predict divorce?” We then turn our attention to premarital and marital interaction and divorce. The focus here is on communication patterns such as conflict, poor problem solving, and lack of positive expression, that suggest a couple is on their way to divorce. Various cascade models as well as types of negativity in marital interaction are presented to illustrate and explain these processes. This chapter presents different patterns of marital decline called enduring dynamics, emergent distress, and disillusionment that have been documented through research. We next examine the question of whether and how divorce has an effect on young children and adult children, including their own risk for divorce – a phenomenon known as the intergenerational transmission of divorce. Finally, the various stages and processes associated with divorce are described.
