Effects of Adult Children's Divorce on Parental Well-being, and Intergenerational Relationships: An Exploratory Study among Korean Families

Although the prevalence of divorce in South Korea has greatly increased since late 1990s, the impact of divorce on the parents of adult children in Korean families has received very little attention. This is particularly unfortunate because of the emphasis in Korean culture on family cohesion and obligations. To address these issues, we explored in our study the well-being of the parents of divorced adult children as well as intergenerational relationships among the members of Korean families. Total 113 parents participated (39 males and 74 females), age ranged from 46 to 65. Of the total participants surveyed, 29% were parents of divorced children (N=33), with the remainder having children in intact marriages (N=80). The measures examined four areas: (1)demographics, (2) parental psychological well-being, (3)intergeneration relationships, and (3) parental perception of their adult child’s marital experience. A series of MANOVA and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Our findings indicate important differences between parents of divorced children and parents of non-divorced children on overall well-being, interpersonal relationships, and parental perception, which is consistent with previous studies. Parents of divorced children in this study also reported lower level of intergenerational relationships compared to parents of nondivorced children. Parent-grandchild relationships seem to be particularly important for parental well-being. In addition, we found an unexpected association between parents and their relationship with their former children inlaws. More detailed discussion was discussed.