Award Date

December 2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Marriage and Family Therapy

First Committee Member

Stephen Fife

Second Committee Member

Katherine Hertlein

Third Committee Member

Carissa Daniello-Heyda

Fourth Committee Member

Cecilia Maldonado- Daniels

Number of Pages

83

Abstract

Divorce continues to be a life transition that affects a substantial amount of adults and children each year. In addition to the impact that divorce can have on adults involved, the impact of divorce is amplified greatly when there are children involved. Divorce can have long-term effects and may influence children’s relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment in intimate relationships, and optimism (Mustonen, Huurre, Haukkala, Kiviruusu, & Aro, 2011). The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social support and confidence levels for those impacted by parental divorce. Social support includes guidance counseling, service support, or financial support (Kitson, Moir, & Mason, 1982). In this study, social support is defined as any type of support given to children by parents, family or friends. Confidence level is being defined in two ways: by career expectations and confidence in having long-term, successful romantic relationships in adulthood. Career expectations and potential for romantic relationships are two variables that help establish one’s identity at the beginning of adulthood (Washington & Hans, 2013). Three hundred twelve participants between the ages of 18-25 participated in the study. A MANOVA and a Pearson 2- tailed correlation were performed to assess the variance between social support and confidence levels and the relationship between the amount of social support and confidence levels. The results indicate that the quality of social

support has a positive influence in terms of career expectations and relationship confidence and that there was a significant relationship between the amount of social support and confidence levels. The findings suggest the importance of the quality of relationship regarding social support is more significant than the quantity or amount of social support given by parents, family members, or friends.

Keywords

Children of Divorce; Confidence Levels; Parental Divorce; Social Support

Disciplines

Counseling Psychology | Psychology | Student Counseling and Personnel Services

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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