Remarriage after divorce

de Frank F. Furstenberg, Graham B. Spanier, Radcliffe College. Henry A. Murray Research Center

This study is a follow-up of Spanier (1977) Adjustment to Separation and Divorce, also archived at the center (A738). The purpose of the follow-up was to investigate the changing patterns of remarriage and to examine the possibility that the form and functioning of first and second marriages might be different. One hundred eighty-one of the original 205 respondents participated in the follow-up. The sample is white with a range of social classes. Sixty-two of the participants had remarried by the time of the second interview, and their spouses were interviewed as well. The Murray Center holds data for 181 of the original subjects as well as 60 of their spouses. Structured interviews were conducted by the Institute for Survey Research (ISR) of Temple University, covering the following topics:background information on current relationship, children living in the household, parenting and the division of responsibilities for child rearing, visitation of children not living in the household, attitudes toward stepchildren, plans for more children, relationship with former and current spouse, social network, plans for and attitudes about remarriage, physical and mental health, and economics. Many of the questions are directly comparable to those in the original data collection. The Murray Center has computer-accessible data from both the original study and this follow-up.