Although the negative effects of parental divorce on adjustment problems have been extensively documented, the processes through which divorce leads to these outcomes have not been well articulated. A considerable body of literature has identified both social--environmental and intrapersonal factors that affect the development of adjustment problems in children following parental divorce. However, studies have not examined pathways to the development of these adjustment problems that involve the joint influence of social--environmental and intrapersonal factors. Identification of such pathways has clear implications for theories of the etiology of adjustment problems for children following parental divorce and should provide guidance for the design of effective prevention and treatment programs. Given that over 1 million children in the United States experience parental divorce each year (Cherlin, 1992), the public health implications of such programs are significant.

This study uses a prospective longitudinal design to examine the plausibility of a model in which children's fear that they will not be cared for (i.e., fear of abandonment) mediates the relations between two empirically supported correlates of children's postdivorce adjustment problems: mother-child relationship quality and divorce stressors. First, the research on children's postdivorce adjustment problems is discussed. Next, the literature on the relations between divorce stressors, as well as mother-child relationship quality, and postdivorce adjustment problems is briefly reviewed, and the limited empirical work on fear of abandonment is discussed. Finally, plausible linkages between divorce stressors, mother-child relationship quality, fear of abandonment, and children's postdivorce adjustment problems are articulated and theoretical support for a mediational model is provided.

Potential adjustment and social adaptation problems of children who have experienced parental divorce include increased levels of aggression, depression, and anxiety; poor academic performance; school drop-out; peer relationship problems; drug and alcohol use; early sexual behavior; and adolescent pregnancy (e.g., Amato & Keith, 1991a; Hetherington et al., 1992). Although for some children the effects of this transition in family structure are mild and short lived, for other children, divorce leads to clinically significant and lasting adjustment problems during childhood and adolescence (see Amato & Keith, 1991a). Further, several longitudinal studies have shown elevated rates of mental health problems in adults who experienced parental divorce as children (e.g., Chase-Landale, Cherlin, & Kiernan, 1995; Rodgers, Power, & Hope, 1997; Ross & Mirowsky, 1999). For example, in a prospective study, Rodgers et al. found the odds ratio of being above the clinical level on mental health problems for parental divorce to be 1.70 at age 23 and 1.85 at age 33.