Divorce and children's adjustment problems at home and school: the role of depressive/withdrawn parenting.

This study examined linkages between divorce, depressive/withdrawn parenting, and child adjustment problems at home and school. Middle class divorced single mother families (n = 35) and 2-parent families (n = 174) with a child in the fourth grade participated. Mothers and teachers completed yearly questionnaires and children were interviewed when they were in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Structural equation modeling suggested that the association between divorce and child externalizing and internalizing behavior was partially mediated by depressive/withdrawn parenting when the children were in the fourth and fifth grades.