In spite of these limitations, our study makes several useful contributions.
Based on a national probability sample, we demonstrated that people’s
accounts of divorce are related to gender, SES, and life course variables
in predictable ways. Moreover, we showed that people who blame
themselves, external causes, or their former partners tend to be less well
adjusted following divorce than people who blame factors intrinsic to the
relationship itself. Finally,we found that people who believe that they had
control over the divorce process (i.e., that they initiated the divorce) tend
to show relatively positive divorce adjustment. This information could be
useful to counselors and therapists working with divorced clients. More
generally, these results suggest the utility of incorporating people’s subjective
understandings into research designs to provide a richer understanding
of the divorce process.