KRISTI WILLIAMS AND ALEXANDRA DUNNE-BRYANT The Ohio State University Divorce and Adult Psychological Well-Being: Clarifying the Role of Gender and Child Age Substantial evidence indicates that marital dis- solution has negative consequences for adult well-being. Because most research focuses on the average consequences of divorce, we know very little about factors that moderate this asso- ciation. The present study tests the hypothesis that the effects of marital dissolution on adult well-being are greatest for those with young children in the home at the time of marital dis- solution. Analysis of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N ¼ 4,811 men and women married at the baseline inter- view) supports this hypothesis, especially among women. For women without young chil- dren, marital dissolution appears to have few negative consequences for psychological well- being. Differential exposure to secondary stres- sors that accompany marital dissolution partly explains these patterns. Divorce is pervasive in American society, and the evidence that divorce undermines adult health and well-being is no less than overwhelming. Hundreds of studies indicate that divorced indi- viduals are more depressed, less happy, and at a greater risk of health problems and psychiatric disorder than their unmarried counterparts (see a review by Amato, 2000). Because divorce is likely to remain a permanent feature of the family landscape, it is important to understand for whom and under what circumstances it most strongly undermines adult mental health and well-being. Although the majority of divorces occur in the early years of marriage, demographic trends sug- gest that divorce and separation are increasing among those with longer marital durations and at later stages of the family life course when young children are no longer present in the home (Suhomlinova & O’Rand, 1998; Uhlenberg, Cooney, & Boyd, 1990). Despite these trends, very little research considers whether the conse- quences of marital dissolution for psychological well-being depend on the presence and age of children in the home. In the present study, we work from the divorce- stress-adjustment perspective to argue that mari- tal dissolution should be particularly detrimental to the mental health of adults with young children in the home. Thus, divorce may have few nega- tive consequences for those at later stages of the family life course who are experiencing the great- est increases in marital dissolution. Further, the moderating role of the presence and age of chil- dren on divorce adjustment should be especially evident among women. We use nationally repre- sentative longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) to examine the association of a transition into divorce or separation with subsequent well- being while controlling for initial differences in the well-being of those who eventually divorce compared to those who stay married. Because positive and negative affects are distinct com- ponents of psychological well-being (Bradburn, 1969; Ryff, 1989) and because men and Department of Sociology, 300 Bricker Hall, 190 N Oval Mall, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (klw@mail.sociology.ohio-state.edu) Key Words: depression, divorce, family structure, mental health, National Survey of Families and Households, parenthood. 1178 Journal of Marriage and Family 68 (December 2006): 1178–1196