Understanding the perceptions of adult children of divorced families about romantic relationships, marriage and being a parent: A qualitative study

The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions of married or single adults with divorced parents about romantic relationships, marriage, having children, their possible and current child-rearing attitudes, and parental self-efficacy in the context of their parents' divorce. For this purpose, phenomenological design which is one of the qualitative research approaches was used in this study. The study group of the research was formed by snowball sampling and consisted of 13 individuals: 7 of them were in a romantic relationship, 2 of them were single, and 4 of them were married. Personal Information Form and Semi-Structured Interview Form which were developed by the researcher were used to collect data. Nine themes, 26 sub-themes, and 137 codes emerged. According to the findings of the study, parental divorce was found to have an influence on the participants' views on romantic relationships, marriage, having children in their adult lives, their potential and current child-rearing attitudes, and their perceptions of parental efficacy. The results of the study becomes important in understanding the difficulties experienced by individuals as adults in their own romantic relationships, marital relationships, and parenting processes due to parental divorce when they were a child. The findings of the research were discussed within the scope of the relevant literature and based on the findings of the study, suggestions were presented both for mental health professionals and researchers.