Differences in adolescent outcomes by age at the time of parental divorce also may be due to a greater salience of recent vs. more distal events, such that the immediate distress surrounding parental separation fades with time. That is, parental divorce/separation is more of an acute stressor or “crisis” than a chronic strain with lasting effects (Amato, 2000). Low et al. (2012) note that the divorce process itself, i.e., parental conflict, may be most important. They examined the timing of parental divorce and alcohol use in adolescents, including whether the impact on alcohol use subsides, persists, or escalates over time and found that alcohol use increased the most in the two years following the divorce, but was also significantly predictive in later periods two to six years after divorce. Jeynes (2001) found that 8th graders who experienced divorce somewhat recently (within previous 4 years) drank in greater quantities those who experienced divorce less recently, but that rates of lower-level consumption did not differ as a function of timing.
