Coresidence between divorcing daughters and their mothers: managing feeling like a failure

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study produces a grounded theory of how coresidence between divorcing daughters with minor children and their mothers is negotiated. Thirteen daughters and seven mothers (including 4 mother-daughter dyads) participated in this study. The core phenomenon that emerged from this study for both generations was that of feeling like a failure, which was experienced by both daughters (loss of autonomy, social stigma, and low self-esteem) and mothers (history of parenting and current support to their daughters). Factors that led to coresidence, as well as how participants managed feeling like a failure are also discussed.