Several theoretical perspectives address how parental
divorce may influence the behaviour quality of life of the
children involved. Other than genetic models
and selection theory (both beyond the scope of this paper),
two categories of explanations can be distinguished: theories
focusing on direct effects of parental divorce and theories
emphasizing the role of intermediating family processes.
The research literature offers considerable support for
these perspectives: children of intact families were less
likely to use drugs (e.g., Cookston 1999; Doherty and
Needle 1991; Flewelling and Bauman 1990; Hoffmann
2002; Hoffmann and Johnson 1998; Jenkins and Zunguze
1998), drink alcohol (e.g., Cookston 1999; Hoffmann and
Johnson 1998; Jenkins and Zunguze 1998), use tobacco
(e.g., Jenkins and Zunguze 1998) and were less prone to
exhibit delinquent behaviour (e.g., Amato 2001; Wells and
Rankin 1991) than children from non-intact families.
obtain ‘true stories’ of children.