Post-divorce adjustment, coparenting and somatisation: Mediating role of anxiety and depression in high-conflict divorces

Abstract

Background: Due to the overlap of somatisation with other psychiatric symptomatology and the difficulty of making a clear diagnosis, few studies have focused on somatic symptoms after divorce. Moreover, their results are controversial and do not provide a conclusive differentiation according to gender. Objective: The present study is based on the hypothesis that psychological difficulties of adjustment to divorce and coparenting are linked to somatic symptomatology, in a sample of high-conflict divorcees, considering anxious and depressive symptoms as mediating factors. The role of some control variables was considered: marital status, level of education, time elapsed since separation, type of custody, frequency of contact with the children, and type of relationship with the ex-partner. In addition, the differential role of gender was studied. Method: A path analysis was carried out with the IBM SPSS AMOS 28 programme. Results: Its results supported the relationship between psychological difficulties of adjustment to divorce and somatisation, as well as the mediating role of anxiety. A direct relationship between coparenting and somatisation was also found. These results were invariant in men and women, although specific differences were identified in the impact of anxiety. Limitations: As a preliminary study, it is not without limitations. Firstly, it can be noted that it is a homogeneous sample with similar socio-demographic characteristics. Furthermore, the instruments used are general screening tests, and it could be interesting to incorporate more specific assessment tools. Conclusions: This study supported the link between the conflictive divorce and the somatic symptomatology, leading to further research.

Keywords

• Conflict
• Breakup
• Court
• Family
• Stress
• Somatic