Divorce Trends in Seven Countries Over the Long Transition from State Socialism: 1981–2004

The collapse of communism was a defining geopolitical event of late-20th century Europe, with well-documented economic, social, and political implications. Yet there is a striking absence of research on how it influenced divorce. The objective of this study is to provide an exploratory analysis of trends in divorce over the long transition from communism—starting from the decline of the communist economy in the 1980s and ending with economic revival—in seven countries: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Russia. We discuss how the transition could be expected to either increase or decrease divorce risks. We analyze retrospective micro-level data on first marriages from the Changing Life Course Regimes in Eastern Europe (CLiCR) dataset. Based on our event-history analyses, we find that divorce rates increased in each country at some stage during the long transition and these increases cannot be explained by compositional change of the marriages. However, no uniform pattern emerged in the timing and duration of the increase in divorce risk. This striking variation leads us to conclude that even the effect of major societal ruptures is contextually contingent

The impact of financial strain on adolescents\u27 psychological functioning in Romania: The role of family processes

This study examined the impact of financial strain on family processes and adolescents\u27 psychological functioning in Romania. Drawing on the conceptual model of economic stress and family functioning by Conger and colleagues, this investigation analyzed the direct and indirect links among financial strain, perceived social support, maternal depression, marital conflict, parenting quality and adolescents\u27 psychological functioning. The sample consists of 239 mothers and their 12-14 year-old children. Structural equation modeling using AMOS 4.0 was employed to test the model. The results suggested that a higher level of economic strain is associated with higher levels of maternal depression, marital conflict, and social isolation. There is a compartmentalization between marital processes and parenting behaviors. There is no impact of financial strain, maternal depression, and marital conflict on the quality of parenting and adolescents\u27 psychological functioning