Wat zorgt er voor dat ik mij thuis kan voelen als thuis niet meer is zoals het was? De relatie tussen de leeftijd op het moment van scheiden, actuele ouderlijke conflicten en het huidige thuisgevoel van Nederlandse adolescenten binnen gescheiden gezinnen.

Abstract

Background: Every year, 70.000 Dutch children are faced with the divorce of their parents. A parental divorce can have negative effects on children. Aim: This study looks at the possible relationship between age at the time of divorce, current parental conflicts and the current sense of family belonging of Dutch adolescents within divorced families. A distinction is made in the sense of family belonging adolescents experience with their father and their mother. Method: The data for this study is obtained from the cross-sequential study ‘Scholieren en Gezinnen’, wave 2018. The sample consisted of 198 Dutch adolescents from divorced families within the age range from 10 to 19 years old. The measuring instruments used in this study are the ‘Co- parenting Behavior Questionnaire [CBQ]’ and ‘Family Belonging’. The analysis were performed through single and multiple regressions. Results: Analysis have shown that the age at the time of divorce has neither a significant effect on the sense of family belonging with father nor with mother. However, current parental conflicts do have a significant effect on adolescents’ sense of family belonging. This applies to a greater extent to the sense of family belonging with father than with mother. Looking at the interaction between the age at the time of divorce and the current parental conflicts, no significant effect was found. Discussion: This study contributes to the limited amount of literature on family belonging within divorced families, though it is important to investigate other factors that might influence adolescents’ sense of family belonging in future research. As an implication for practice, it is important for youth care professionals to pay more attention to the possible effects of parental conflicts on adolescent’s sense of belonging during and especially after a divorce. Promoting their sense of family belonging could play a role in protecting the adolescent from various developmental problems.