Domestic Violence and Parental Divorce as Predictors of Best Friendship Qualities Among College Students

Abstract

Data regarding the effects of domestic violence and parental divorce have been inconsistent. Assessments of the effects of childhood trauma on psychosocial adjustment might be enhanced by an examination of the way developmental stressors interact. A total of 370 college students with histories of combinations of parental divorce and domestic violence participated in this correlational study of best friendships in early adulthood. College students exposed to domestic violence during childhood described their best friendships as relatively less reinforcing, helpful, and sustainable than those without the abuse history. Participants from intact families, as compared to those with parental divorce histories, described their best friendship as relatively more reinforcing and favorable. The combination of parental divorce and exposure to domestic violence was linked to magnified effects regarding these best friendship qualities. Average effect sizes for domestic violence (d = .31), parental divorce (d = .18), and the interaction between domestic abuse and divorce (d = .85) pointed to mild to modest links between these stressors and best friendship qualities. These results emphasized the benefits of interaction analysis in attempts to predict the adverse effects of developmental stressors on late psychological functioning.

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