A prospective study of the consequences of marital disruption for adolescents: predisruption family dynamics and postdisruption adolescent adjustment.

This study employed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine the consequences of marital disruption for youth prospectively. Using a diverse sample of 6,416 youth, we examined pre- and postdisruption group differences among youth in subsequently disrupting and continuously intact homes. We also examined the extent to which predisruption family dynamics (e.g., marital discord) accounted for both pre- and postdisruption group differences in youth functioning and examined the interaction between level of marital discord and marital disruption. Group differences in adjustment emerged at both time-points and were better explained by family-level variables than by marital disruption. Further, level of marital discord interacted with marital disruption, predicting differential youth outcomes. The implications of these findings for understanding and explaining the heterogeneity of divorce outcomes are discussed.