Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Divorce--Psychological aspects; Separation (Psychology); Unmarried couples;
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the differences and similarities in relationship-termination adjustment between divorced and non-marital populations. The two populations have been assumed to be similar, but this assumption has not been investigated formally. The present sample consisted of 90 subjects, 34 of whom were volunteers from a local divorce support group, and 56 were volunteers from the student population at the University of Northern Iowa. The criterion for inclusion in the nonmarital group was having experienced the break up of a romantic relationship that had lasted at least one year (during one's adulthood). Subjects completed a modified version of the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS), which has six subscales to measure various aspects of adjustment to relationship loss. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found a significant difference in the FDAS scores based upon the type of relationship (divorced or ended long-term romantic). Follow-up analyses of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the primary difference between the two groups was that the divorced group was more disentangled from the former relationship than the non-marital group. Moreover, the analyses indicated no significant sex differences in adjustment on the issues measured by the six FDAS subscales. Finally, multiple regression analyses indicated several predictors of adjustment. Further research is warranted to determine if these findings will be consistent over broader populations of subjects.
Year of Submission
1992
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Psychology
First Advisor
Jane Wong
Second Advisor
Beverly Kopper
Third Advisor
Joel Wells
Date Original
1992
Object Description
1 PDF file (88 leaves)
Copyright
©1992 Robert Bruce Hensley
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Hensley, Robert Bruce, "Relationship Termination and the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale: A Comparative Study" (1992). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2931.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2931
Comments
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