Women's causal explanations of divorce: relationships to self-esteem and emotional distress

The relationships of women's self-esteem and emotional distress to their causal explanations of divorce were investigated. Thirty-six women ending a first marriage were interviewed using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (Fitts, 1965), the Ireton Personal Inventory (Ireton, 1980), and the Women's Attributions to Divorce Questionnaire. Self-esteem was associated with causal explanations characterized as internal, whereas emotional distress was related to causal explanations characterized as internal, stable, and global. The relationships occurred only in women who perceived themselves as being unable to prevent the marriage from ending. The findings support the learned helplessness model for predicting emotional distress and provide nurses with information useful in assessing mental health.