The crisis of divorce and the nature of the experienced life changes

Abstract

In this study, divorce is understood as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. Furthermore, divorce is one of the most stressful life events – an event which changes almost every aspect of life. It has been assumed that for majority of people, divorce is related to a crisis or is viewed as a turning point in life. The aim of this study is to verify whether the assessment of the impact of divorce on various spheres of life (housing situation, work, friends, children, etc.) is associated with different magnitude of experienced life changes (positive or negative). Positive changes may signify individual's ability to cope with critical life events (such as divorce); negative changes mean that people after divorce experience the negative impact of it on fundamental beliefs about the self as well as the value and meaning of life. In this study, the Life Changes Scale (LCS), demographic data and divorce-related data were used. The difference significance tests were conducted between the groups. A total of 157 divorced individuals participated in the research. Three out of four participants were women (76.40%); a quarter of the group comprised of men (23.60%). The respondents’ average age was 41 years. Analyses have shown differences in the assessment of changes after divorce. The most important results include the occurrence of significant differences in experienced life changes (positive or negative) among divorced individuals, depending on the sphere of life in which the changes occurred.