TY - JOUR
T1 - Social support expectations and strategic ambiguity in parent-young adult child divorce-related stressor conversations
AU - Mcmanus, Tara G.
AU - Nussbaum, Jon F.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study is a part of the first author’s dissertation directed by the second author. The dissertation was conducted with the support of the Sparks Fellowship awarded by the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State.
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - With communication privacy management and the divorce disclosure model as guiding frameworks, this study identified the stressors postdivorce families discussed as they mature, elucidated the types of social support parents and young adult children expected regarding divorce-related stress, and tested whether motivational and contextual factors prompted parents' use of strategic ambiguity while discussing stressors. By examining parent-child divorce-related stressor conversations in a controlled lab setting, results indicated that a decade after parental divorce, families continued to manage a variety of stressors. Additionally, parents and young adults had strong expectations for nurturant, informational, and tangible support from one another. Yet, social support expectations did not affect parents' self-reported use of strategic ambiguity nor children's perceptions of parents' communication.
AB - With communication privacy management and the divorce disclosure model as guiding frameworks, this study identified the stressors postdivorce families discussed as they mature, elucidated the types of social support parents and young adult children expected regarding divorce-related stress, and tested whether motivational and contextual factors prompted parents' use of strategic ambiguity while discussing stressors. By examining parent-child divorce-related stressor conversations in a controlled lab setting, results indicated that a decade after parental divorce, families continued to manage a variety of stressors. Additionally, parents and young adults had strong expectations for nurturant, informational, and tangible support from one another. Yet, social support expectations did not affect parents' self-reported use of strategic ambiguity nor children's perceptions of parents' communication.
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U2 - 10.1080/10502556.2011.585083
DO - 10.1080/10502556.2011.585083
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79957482306
SN - 1050-2556
VL - 52
SP - 244
EP - 270
JO - Journal of Divorce and Remarriage
JF - Journal of Divorce and Remarriage
IS - 4
ER -