Personality and Mental Health: A Comparison of Emerging Adult Women from Divorce and Intact Families

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between hardiness, well-being, and depressive symptoms among women in emerging adulthood (18–29 years old) from two groups (parental divorce group, intact family group). Individuals (192 females) from a parental divorce group and individuals (126 females) from an intact family group completed the Dispositional Resilience Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and a short version of the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. As hypothesized, women from the parental divorce group who scored higher on commitment, control, and challenge (hardiness variables) reported more well-being and less depressive symptoms than those who scored lower on these variables. Womens’ hardiness variables explained between 21 and 35 % of the variance in well-being and depressive symptoms for both groups. Women from the parental divorce group showed no difference in scores on well-being and depressive symptoms than those from intact families.