Psychologica~Reports, 1988,62, 561-562.

@ Psychological Reports 1988

CORRELATIONS AMONG MEASURES OF

DIVORCE ADJUSTMENT, SELF-ESTEEM, AND
HEALTH OF THE FAMILY OF ORIGIN

STUART BONNINGTON1
Auslin Peay State University

Sumna7y.-Divorced subjects ( 4 7 women and 19 men) completed ratings

of divorce adjustment, a self-esteem subscale, and perceived family of origin's
emotional health. A nonsignificant Pearson's correlation between divorce ad-
jusunent and family of origin's health was obtained plus a small significant s
of .25 between self-esteem and family of origin's health for the women.

Since Goode's ( 3 ) pioneering scudy, adjustment to divorce has continued to be

a frequently researched area While various approaches to family therapy have added
to the understanding of the intergenerational transmission process, little has been written
about the adjustment to divorce from a family-therapy perspective ( 5 ) . This scudy
concerned the association of family-of-origin issues and adjustment to divorce. As the
major theories of adjustment to divorce stress self-esteem as an important component,
the correlation of self-esteem with family of origin's health was also assessed.
From singles social groups i n Chattanooga, TN area churches 47 women and 19
men agreed to participate in this study. The largest of the two groups were interde-
nominational organizations. Female respondents ranged in age from 29 to 62 yr., with
a mean of 42 yr. Male subjects' ages ranged from 27 to 54 yr., with a mean age of 40
yr. Ferry percent ( a = 2 6 ) had been living separately from their former spouses from
1 to 12 mo., 29% ( n = 1 9 ) had been apart from 13 to 24 mo., and the remaining
31% ( n = 2 0 ) reported that they had been apart for 25 or more months.
Subjects completed the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale ( 1 ) and the Family of
Origin Scale ( 4 ) . While originally designed as a pre- and posttest instrument to assess
groups' change in adjustment to divorce, Fisher's scale has been used by many researchers.
The Feelings of Self-worth subscale has also been used as a measure of self-esteem, ( 6 ) .
The Family of Origin Scale measures the related concepts of autonomy and independence,
giving an over-all rating of a family's mental health. In addition, subjects were asked
to address a copy of the scale to a member of their family of origin to obtain another
assessment of the perceived family of origin's health.
When scores for male and female respondents were compared using r tests, no sig-
nificant differences were found between the nvo groups on either scale. For men com-
pleting Fisher's scale, M = 369, SD = 47.4 and range = 2 4 2 4 3 3 and for women,
M = 358, SD = 56.4 and range = 2 2 2 4 7 3 . There were no significant differences
in scores on the Family of Origin Scale (men: M = 118.9, SD = 27.9, and range =
61-175; women: M = 123, SD = 33, and range = 59-189). A significant Pear-
son correlation between scores o n adjustment to divorce and perceived family of origin's
health was not found for the whole group.
A difference did appear, however, when separate correlations for feelings of self-
worth and family of origin health were calculated. The correlation for men was ex-
tremely low (s = -.03), while for women there was a small but significant correlation

'Request reprints from S. B. Bonnington, Psychology Department, Austin Peay State

University, Clarksville, TN 37044.
562 S. BONNINGTON

of .25 ( P < .05). Further, the correlation for family-of-origin's health between the
divorced persons' scores and the scores of responding family of origin's members was
.38 (n = 36). For the family of origin's members, M = 130.8, SD = 32.7, and range
= 55-196. The family-of-origin respondents included 14 sisters, 12 mothers, 7
brothers, 1 father, and 1 stepmother.
While the expected correlation between adjustment to divorce and perceived health
of the family of origin was not substantiated, it was interesting to note the low, sig-
nificant correlation between feel~ngsof self-worth and perceived health of the family of
origin for women. Gilligan's ( 2 ) d~scussionof the differences in men's and women's
self-concept development may clarify this finding. In Gilligan's conceptualization, fe-
males' development is tied much more heavily to "connectedness" than is males'. Gilli-
gan conceptualized males' development as hinging much more o n differentiarion from
the family. The finding seems consistent with that explanation. While the correlation
for self-esteem and perceived health of the family of origin for men was extremely low,
this r was based on a small number of men ( n = 19). Such correlations must be
validated o n larger samples.
The low significant correlation between perceived health of the family of origin
for the divorced persons and for their family of origin members suggests this scale may
measure a common perception among family members. Perhaps this correlation was in-
fluenced by the divorced persons' choices of family members, for they may have tended
to select those members whom they expected would agree with them about the health
of the family of origin. Also, siblings' scores may correlate higher than parent/child
scores, as siblings may share a more common view of family atmosphere. A larger study
comparing siblings' scores with parent/child scores may be worthwhile.
A number of respondents added comments to the Family of Origin Scale which sug-
gest further psychodynamic aspects. Several individuals characterized the experience of
completing the scale as having been painful but valuable. One respondent noted that it
was difficult for her to complete the scale because her parents were "totally different"
from each other. This woman asked her mother to complete the scale. That both had
high scores suggests this person's memory of her family of origin is more tied to the
influence of her mother than that of her father. Another woman noted that she answered
the scale in relation to her father whom she perceived as having had a much more nega-
tive influence on her.
An examination of family-of-origin issues may have a place i n counseling those
seeking help in adjusting to divorce as issues of autonomy and intimacy are salient for
this population. As has been shown by Fisher ( I ) , self-esteem normally shows a con-
siderable fluctuation during such an adjustment process.
REFERENCES
1. FISHER,B. F. (1978) When your relationsh+ ends. Boulder, CO: Family Relations
Learning Center Publ.
2. GILLIGAN, C. (1982) In a different voice. Cambridge, M A : Harvard Univer.
Press.
3. GOODE,W.J. (1956) After divorce. Glencoe, IL. Free Press.
4. HOVESTADT,A. J., ANDERSON,W . T., PIERCY,F. P., & FINE, M. A. (1985) A
family of origin scale. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 1 1 , 287-297.
5. KANTOR, D., & VICKERS,M. I. (1983) Divorce along the family life cycle. In
J. C. Hansen & H. A. Liddle (Eds.), Clinical implica~ionrof he family life
cycle. RockviUe, MD: Aspen Sysuns Corp. Pp. 78-79.
6. THIESEN, J. D., AVERY, A. W., & JOANNING, H. (1981) Facilitating postdivorce
adjustment among women: a communications skills training approach. Journal
of Divorce, 4 , 35-44.
Accepted March 10,1988.