Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jul 13.
Published in final edited form as: Perspect Psychol Sci. 2007 Dec;2(4):313–345. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00047.x

TABLE 3.

SES and IQ Effects on Divorce

Study N Outcome Length of
study		 Control variables Predictor Results Est. r
Amato & Rogers, 1997 1,742 couples from the Panel
Study of Marital Instability
over the Life Course		 Divorce 12 years Age at marriage, prior
cohabitation, ethnicity,
years married, church
attendance, education,
employment, husband’s
income, remarriage,
parents divorced		 Wife’s income p = .01 re = .06
Bentler & Newcomb, 1978 77 couples (53 males, 24
females)		 Divorce 4 years Women’s education
occupation		 p = .05
p = .05		 re = −.22
re = −.22
Fergusson, Horwood, & Shannon, 1984 1,002 families from the
Christchurch Child
Development Study		 Family breakdown 5 years Maternal age, family size,
church attendance,
marriage type, length of
marriage, planning of
pregnancy		 SES T = 2.86 rt = −.09
Helson, 2006 98 women Divorce 31 years SAT Verbal
SAT Math		 r = −.06
r = .08
Holley, Yabiku, & Benin, 2006 670 mothers from the
Intergenerational Study of
Parents and Children		 Divorce 13 years Age at marriage, religion,
church attendance,
previous cohabitation,
number of children		 Similarities subtest
from WAIS		 t = −3.02 rt = −.12
Jalovaara, 2001 766,637 first marriages from
Finland		 Divorce 2 years Duration of marriage, wife’s
age at marriage, family
composition, degree of
urbanization		 Wife’s high
education
Wife’s low
occupational class
Wife’s high income		 HR = 0.69
(0.66, 0.73)
HR = 1.34
(1.27, 1.42)
HR = 1.03
(0.92, 1.14)		 rhr = −.02

rhr = .01

rhr = .00
Husband’s high
education
Husband’s low
occupational class
Husband’s high
income		 HR = 0.66
(0.63, 0.69)
HR = 1.51
(1.44, 1.58)
HR = 0.55
(0.51, 0.58)		 rhr = −.02

rhr = .02

rhr = −.02
Kurdek, 1993 286 couples Divorce 5 years High education
(husband)		 F(1, 284) =
30.28,
p <
.0000000008		 rF = −.31
re = −.34
High income
(husband)		 F(1, 284) =
9.32,
p = .0025		 rF = −.18
re = −.18
High income (wife) F(1, 284) =
5.11,
p = .025		 rF = −.13
re = −.13
Orbuch, Veroff, Hassan, & Horrocks, 2002 373 couples
 Divorce
 14 years
 Race
 Years education
(wife)
Household income
Years of education
(husband)		 B = −.33 (.06)
p = .001
B = .00 (.01)
B = −.20 (.06)
p = .001		 rB = −.28
re = −.17
rB = .00
rB = −.17
re = −.17
A.W. Smith & Meitz, 1985 3,737 families from the Panel
Study of Income Dynamics		 Divorce 10 years Education level p = .001 re = −.05
Taylor et al, 2005 883 from the Scottish Mental
Survey and Midspan studies		 Ever married 39 years Social class IQ OR men = 1.21
(0.85–1.73)
p = .23		 ror = .04
re = .04
OR women =
0.50 (0.32–0.78)
p = .002		 ror = −.17
re = −.17
IQ Social class OR men = 1.25
(0.92–1.68)
p = .15		 ror = .06
re = .06
OR women =
0.67 (0.49–0.92)
p = .015		 ror = −.14
re = −.13
Tzeng & Mare, 1995 17,024 from NLSY, NLSYM,
and NLSYW studies		 Annual probability
of marital disruption		 9–15 Years Age at marriage, presence
of children, family status
while growing up, number
of marriages, race, cohort		 Couple education Z = −6.8 rz = −.05
Couple income Z = .51 rz = .00

Note. Confidence intervals are given in parentheses. SES = socioeconomic status; HR = hazard ratio; RR = relative risk ratio; OR = odds ratio; rz = correlation estimated from the z score and sample size; ror = correlation estimated from the odds ratio; rF = correlation estimated from F test; rB = correlation estimated from the reported unstandardized beta weight and standard error; re = requivalent (correlation estimated from the reported p value and sample size); WAIS = Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale; NLSY = National Longitudinal Study of Youth; NLSYM = National Longitudinal Study of Young Men; NLSYW = National Longitudinal Study of Young Women.