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Le développement de l’enfant en résidence alternée : revue de la question
Abstract
Legalized in France March 4, 2002 after reorganization of the legal system in line with evolution attitudes and society, joint custody involves psychological questions as it directly affects the child's psychological adjustment and lifestyle. While in our country, psychiatrists focus some time on the process of attachment of the child in joint custody during early childhood, the Anglo-Saxon researchers are interested on this subject since 30 years. We propose here to take stock of all researches that have studied development of child and adolescent in joint custody. Before announcing the development sectors studied and the main results emerging, we will analyze the specific theoretical and methodological work. We will also demonstrate the interest to adopt a systemic approach, taking into account the dynamics of all family relationships in evolution after divorce or separation.
... The child may also be taken as a witness or hostage in the conflict. The "avenger" child is determined to take sides in the parental war [11,15,16]. ...
... The more acute the conflict between the parents, the less available they are to listen to their child and the less likely the child will develop anxiety. The high intensity of conflict is associated with increased anxiety in the baby and child; in adolescents, the severity of the conflict leads to an increase in behaviour, and sufferings such as depression, anxiety, low selfesteem [6,8,12,15,16]. Indeed, the way in which the child can accept the separation depends in large part on the way it is managed by his environment, on the trace which he imagines leaving or not in them despite the separation. All the authors stress the quality of child-parent relationships and the quality of life in the new family structure as the main determinant of the child's adaptation [15,17,18]. ...
... Family physicians and medico-psycho-social centers, as front-line workers, play a crucial role in screening for signs of adjustment disorder and signs of physical or psychological suffering. They can direct the children concerned to mental health professionals, thus allowing early treatment and avoiding the entry into psychopathology [3,16]. If the child appears to be in real danger and his physical and moral safety must be protected, a report must be made to the administrative authorities (justice, general council). ...
... en effet, La manière dont l'enfant peut accepter la séparation dépend en grande partie de la manière dont elle est gérée par son environnement, de la trace qu'il imagine laisser ou non en eux malgré la séparation. Tous les auteurs insistent sur la qualité des relations enfant-parents et la qualité de la vie dans la nouvelle structure familiale comme principal déterminant de l'adaptation de l'enfant (Baude, 2010 ;derdeyn, 1977). ...
... Les parents, occupés par les difficultés du moment, comme le déménagement, la séparation des biens matériels, la nouvelle organisation, pourraient moins percevoir les réactions de leurs enfants. La séparation parentale peut avoir des conséquences sur la façon dont est remplie la fonction parentale en cas d'hostilité entre les parents (Baude, 2010 ;derdeyn, 1977). La fonction parentale ne peut alors se réaliser correctement, car l'enfant n'est pas reconnu en tant que sujet mais bien comme enjeu de conflit. ...
... Il peut aussi vouloir assouvir sa vengeance dans le cas d'antécédents de maltraitance conjugale. Le risque est alors que l'enfant soit manipulé (Baude, 2010 ;derdeyn, 1977). Certains parents, qui se sentent particulièrement trahis et abandonnés, décident d'écarter l'autre parent de la vie de l'enfant (Charritat, 2008). ...
... Un idéal précaire, Toulouse, Érès. (12) On ne peut mentionner tous ces travaux, seulement quelques-uns à vocation synthétique : Baude et Zaouche-Gaudron, 2010 ;Kesteman, 2007 ;Les rapports du Sénat, 2006-2007Trinder, 2010 ;Poussin, 2009. On peut aussi se référer au numéro de Spirale de 2009 intitulé La garde alternée pour apprécier l'étendue des débats. ...
... Beaucoup d'entre eux manifestent une difficulté à appréhender l'autre parent en tant que tel sans le charger des griefs reprochés au conjoint (13). Or, pour qu'une alternance soit viable, il convient que l'enfant ne soit pas investi du conflit conjugal, et porteur à chaque changement de résidence des reproches adressés à l'autre en tant que conjoint (Neyrand, 1999 a et b ;Poussin, 2005 ;Baude et Zaouche-Gaudron, 2010). Ceci rend la situation de l'enfant insupportable, confronté en permanence à un conflit de loyauté, et ne peut que provoquer chez lui des troubles et un désir d'échapper à une telle double contrainte (Bateson, 1977 ;Le Run, 2013). ...
Alternating residence or the challenge of shared parenting
Following a significant upheaval in the 1970s, initiators of what was still called alternating custody presented such practices as the expression of a striving towards gender equality, introducing shared parenting after separation as the transposition of a new distribution of the roles and tasks that were performed when the parents were still living together. The equivalent amount of time that each parent spent with his or her children could be seen as an expression of the process towards gender equality, in parallel to the increasing amount of time women were spending in a job and men in their family involvement. Reservations and criticism of this practice, though mainly expressed in the name of the child’s best interest that must prevail, nevertheless also reveal a persisting naturalistic view according to which mothers are predisposed to be the main care-givers of children in all circumstances. This notion is defended, in the name of the baby’s interest, by a certain number of child psychiatrists and earlychildhood stakeholders bent on upholding a traditional view of roles. This position is also defended by feminists who take a radical view of the risks that such a practice would bring in perpetuating male violence towards separated mothers… This article looks at the changing social and legal perception of a practice that is gradually gaining acceptance, but that is caught up in polemics that go beyond its scope and that pertain to the very analysis of the complexity of gender relations.
... Il faudra attendre 2002 pour que la résidence alternée soit enfin officiellement reconnue, 32 ans après la loi du 4 juin 1970 relative à l'autorité parentale. Les polémiques sur celle-ci se recentrent alors sur la question de la résidence alternée pour les jeunes enfants [52] , qui constituent la pierre d'achoppement des résistances de certains pédopsychiatres [53] , alors que la montée des dénonciations des violences conjugales laisse certains dubitatifs, voire inquiets, leur principal reproche étant que l'alternance pourrait favoriser le maintien de situations de violence conjugale [54] . Aujourd'hui, ces polémiques se sont quelque peu taries. ...
Si la notion de coparentalité s’est dégagée à l’occasion des problèmes posés par les séparations conjugales, elle constitue le principe central du nouvel ordre familial qui se veut démocratique, assurant l’égalité parentale et préservant la liberté individuelle. Les parents s’y trouvent interpellés de façon différente selon leur genre, alors que la diversification des situations familiales, liée tant à l’évolution des mœurs qu’à l’assistance médicale à la procréation avec tiers donneur, favorise les débats contradictoires. L’objectif de l’article est d’éclairer le processus qui a conduit à cette situation et d’analyser quels présupposés naturalistes la coparentalité doit dépasser pour pouvoir être mise véritablement en œuvre.
... A parent who has not found his place in the triangulation with his own parents cannot potentially place himself satisfactorily between his parents and his children. The breakdown can then reinforce the attachment to the family of origin, the responsibility for the failure being projected on others [16]. ...
Parental separation is a risky traumatic experience for the child regardless of his age. To overcome this ordeal, the child sets up functional or adaptive mechanisms, enabling him to continue his development; on the contrary, giving rise to emotional symptoms, behavioral disorders and / or school sufferance. The expression of this suffering will depend on several factors (the age of the child, his level of development, personality and that of his parents, family background, nature of parental disagreement, the place of children in the conflict, the quality of the relationship between the parents and that of the child-parent relationships after separation). Today’s readings on parental separation and its psychological effects multiply and intersect to provide a more comprehensive look at this worrying phenomenon.
... No French study was quoted in Sunderhauf's review. However, in their review of the question-examination of 22 articles -two French authors (Baude & Zaouche-Gaudron, 2010) came to the conclusion that "the most salient results concern the positive influence of joint 335 custody on children's self-esteem." ...
This is an empirical study based on a large randomized sample of French children focusing on questions of the consequences of divorce and interparental conflict. In particular, the effect of joint custody after parental separation on children’s self-esteem was tested. The results were compared with those of a previous study made 12 years earlier with the same instruments to measure the evolution of French society and French law in the matter of divorce.
Divorce and remarriage have become prominent features of American life. Nowadays many parents divide their attention and resources among two or more families, and children frequently grow up with multiple parents. Using a nationally representative household sample of children, we describe relations among parents, stepparents, and children after separation and divorce. Our results suggest that most children have little contact with their nonresident parents, and what contact there is tends to be social rather than instrumental. Contrary to popular impressions, however, when the former spouse remains active in the child's life, stepfamily life—at least in mother-stepfather families—does not seem to suffer.
Using panel data from the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 844), we examine the impact of divorce on father-child relationship quality and fathers' psychological well-being, the extent to which the residence of a focal child moderates these associations, and how changes in the quality of the father-child relationship over time affect fathers ' psychological well-being. Results indicate that the effect of divorce on the quality of the father-child relationship and fathers ' psychological well-being is moderated by the residence of children. Divorce is associated with lower relationship quality only for nonresident fathers and is associated with a decline in happiness for coresident fathers. Divorced fathers are more depressed than their married counterparts, regardless of child residence. Changes in relationship quality do not significantly influence fathers' psychological well-being.
résumé:L'article explique pourquoi les tout-petits ont besoins d'une figure maternelle de référence présente la majorité de temps de vie, et donc, pourquoi et à quelles conditions il vaut mieux s'acheminer progressivement vers un hébergement égalitaire, dans la mesure du possible pas avant 5, 6 ans
summary: The article explains why toddlers need a mother figure of reference present the majority of their life time, and therefore, why and under what conditions it is better to move progressively towards an egalitarian housing, as far as possible not before 5, 6 years
A group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology, social welfare, and law met at a conference centre in Middleburg, Virginia on December 1-4, 1994, under the sponsorship of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The group's mandate was to evaluate existing knowledge regarding the ways in which children are affected by divorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Many of the discussions also addressed the ways in which the adverse effects of divorce might be ameliorated by changes in policy or practice. This document represents a statement co-signed by most of the participants summarizing areas of agreement regarding the current status of knowledge in this area and outlining topics in need of further research. The report is designed to guide various legislatures, the judiciary, the bar, and the various mental health professionals who are involved in counselling or educating families experiencing separation or divorce, as well as those who mediate or adjudicate the disputes regarding the custody of minor children. The preliminary draft of this consensus document was prepared by Michael E. Lamb and Kathleen J. Sternberg following the three-day conference, with additional redrafting by Ross A. Thompson. The draft was reviewed and revised by the other participants over the ensuing months. This report, revised in accordance with the participants' comments, is a product of this process.
A special problem in the study of self-esteem is the use of quite different instruments for subjects at different age levels. In the present paper the primary goal was to construct a scale that could be used to assess global self-evaluations in children as well as in adolescents and adults. The scale presented (GSE) based mainly on Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) was used in this study with 2478 children aged 10 to 15 years. A second goal was to examine the appropriateness of Rosenberg's Stability of Self Scale when used with preadolescents aged 12 to 15. The internal consistency of the new scale (GSE) and of the slightly modified Stability of Self Scale was quite satisfactory (around .80). In addition a principal component analysis showed that the pattern of factor loadings was similar for subjects of different ages, indicating that the items were interpreted and responded to in roughly the same way by fourth through seventh graders. As expected, the GSE Scale correlated quite substantially with self-reports dimensions reflecting social anxiety and frequency of harassment by other students. The results indicate that the GSE Scale is a good unidimensional measure of global self-evaluations that can be used with subjects from age 10 at least and across a considerable age range.
There is increasing consensus that the perspectives of children need to be taken into account in decisions made by divorcing parents and the courts and that young adults who have lived through their parents' divorces can be an important source of information about children's perspectives. In this study, the authors assessed the perspectives of 820 college adults from divorced families on the issue of children's living arrangements after divorce. Respondents wanted to have spent more time with their fathers as they were growing up, and the living arrangement they believed was best was living equal time with each parent. The living arrangements they had as children gave them generally little time with their fathers. Respondents reported that their fathers wanted more time with them but that their mothers generally did not want them to spend more time with their fathers.
This article summarizes the consensus among a group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology, social welfare, and law who sought to evaluate existing empirical evidence regarding the ways in which children are affected by divorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Divorce and/or single parenthood tend to have adverse effects on children's adjustment, with the magnitude of the effects varying depending on the psychological status of the two parents, the extent of conflict between them, and the financial circumstances, particularly after divorce. Children whose nonresidential parents continue to support them financially, those whose custodial parents are psychologically healthy, and those who have and maintain meaningful relationships with nonresidential parents tend to be affected less by the divorce, especially when there is no conflict between the parents. Interventions should thus be designed with these factors in mind.
This study tested a theoretical model of postdivorce involvement of nonresidential fathers with their children. The hypotheses were (a) that postdivorce father involvement is related to father parenting role identity, role clarity, child relationship quality, and father role hierarchy ranking; and (b) that several variables serve as moderators for the relationship between father parenting role identity and father involvement. Data were collected via self-report questionnaires administered to 101 fathers. Path analytic techniques were used to assess the theoretical model. Findings supported the hypotheses related to the core constructs within the theory, but not for the moderator variables within the study. Role clarity and child relationship quality were found to have both direct and indirect effects on father involvement. Father parenting role identity had a direct effect on father involvement but also functioned as a meditating variable for constructs within the model. Significant paths were found for two variables, joint custody and satisfaction with the legal system. Father postdivorce involvement is a complex phenomenon, and forces external to fathers can contribute to levels of postdivorce involvement (e.g., legal system issues).
The author meta-analyzed studies comparing child adjustment in joint physical or joint legal custody with sole-custody settings, including comparisons with paternal custody and intact families where possible. Children in joint physical or legal custody were better adjusted than children in sole-custody settings, but no different from those in intact families. More positive adjustment of joint-custody children held for separate comparisons of general adjustment, family relationships, self-esteem, emotional and behavioral adjustment, and divorce-specific adjustment. Joint-custody parents reported less current and past conflict than did sole-custody parents, but this did not explain the better adjustment of joint-custody children. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that joint custody can be advantageous for children in some cases, possibly by facilitating ongoing positive involvement with both parents.
This article describes the kind and degree of coparenting being maintained by a group of divorcing families approximately 18 months after parental separation. The sample was taken from court records of divorce filings in two California counties in 1984-85 and includes nearly 1,000 families who had children under age 16 at the time of filing. Three patterns of de facto residential custody (children living with mother, with father, or having dual residence) are compared. While dual-residence parents maintained somewhat higher levels of communication, their levels of conflict did not differ from those of primary-residence parents. The amount of conflict in coparenting is shown to be related to the intensity of interparental hostility at an earlier time.
In a nationally representative sample of children whose parents were divorced, separated, or unmarried, we found no evidence that children in shared custody had less conflictual or better relationships with their parents. Children in sole custody households actually gave their parents more support than those in shared custody, but this may be because they feared losing their remaining parent. We also found that when parents had high levels of disagreement with each other (regardless of type of custody), they also had more disagreements with their children. These results suggest that proponents of shared custody cannot assume a simple relationship between this type of custody arrangement and better parent-child relationships.
While joint custody has received remarkable legislative recognition in a very short period, the research on the arrangement is still very limited. Using a sample drawn from court records, the study presented in this paper compares the parenting one year after divorce of 28 joint-custodial fathers with 54 noncustodial fathers. The indicators of fathers' involvement used in this study assess both dimensions typically used to distinguish joint custody: (a) contact and activities with the children and (b) shared responsibility and decision making. Using regression analyses all three indicators of paternal involvement showed joint-custody fathers to be more involved in parenting postdivorce than are noncustodial fathers.
After a first survey realized in 1995-1996 on the selfesteem of 3098 children at school in 6ème (grade 7) in an area of France, a new survey realized in 2008- 2009 has shown the evolution of the characteristics for the same population.
Using a theoretically guided contrast analysis approach (see Furr & Rosenthal, 2003; Rosnow & Rosenthal, 2002) and data from a relatively large community sample (2550 students in grades 7-9), different sets of hypotheses dealing with adolescents' adjustment in four post-divorce family structures were tested. Most of the hypotheses matched with the data. Adolescents from single mother and stepfather families were at a moderately increased risk of displaying various adjustment problems as compared with adolescents from non-divorced two-parent families. The risk level of youth from single father and joint physical custody families each differed in their own ways from the risks of adolescents from the two first-mentioned family structures. Adolescents from single father families reported an alarmingly high amount of antisocial behavior and substance use, while their counterparts from families with joint physical custody were at no higher risk of displaying adjustment problems than their peers from non-divorced families except in the area of school achievement. However, some hypotheses did not match well with the present data. Compared with their counterparts from non-divorced families, adolescents from single father families did not seem to be at increased risk of internalizing problems (depression/ negative self-evaluations). In addition, relatively fewer adolescents from families with stepfathers reported being drunk than expected, while the opposite was true of their peers from joint physical custody families with regard to illegal drugs. Alternative interpretations of the findings were discussed.
This paper discusses children's perceptions of the divorce experience. Specifically, it illuminates children's perceptions of divorce, custody, and visitation. Custody and visitation arrangements have been made on the basis of what is believed to be in the best interests of the child. However, the viewpoint of the child is seldom considered in decisions concerning custody and access. Moreover, a negligible amount of empirical research has explored the child's interpretation of custody and visitation. This paper is an attempt to redress this imbalance. Findings based on in-depth interviews with 40 children and teenagers reveal a preference for the post-divorce family structure and more flexible visitation arrangements. Moreover, the feasibility of father and joint-custody is addressed.
This article investigates the effects of parenting arrangements on children's behavioral adjustment in postdivorce situations as influenced by interparental aggression, mother-child relationships, children's self-reports of their emotional experiences, and emotional regulation strategies. The findings indicate intriguing pathways through which postdivorce parenting arrangements predict children's behavioral adjustment. Specifically, the positive impact of a dual-residence arrangement on children's adjustment is suppressed by the presence of interparental aggression, children's reported emotion of sadness, and their use of active intervention to regulate their emotions. Implications of the study are discussed.
Previous studies have yielded inconsistent results about the implications of contact with nonresidential parents for children in single-parent households. This study tested the hypothesis that children's contact with nonresident parents decreases children's behavior problems when interparental conflict is low but increases children's behavior problems when interparental conflict is high. Data were analyzed from 1,285 children in single-parent families from the National Survey of Families and Households. The hypothesis was supported among boys from divorced families. No support for the hypothesis was found among girls, regardless of family background.
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The March 2002 French bill of law about divorce has accepted the principle of shared joint custody for children, without taking the age of the child into consideration, without preliminary studies, nor any precautions about the possible consequences on affective development. We have already registered 150 situations in which under sixs in alternate custody arrangements have shown major and hard to treat attachement disorders. The onset of these troubles is triggered by conflict within parents, particularly when one of the parents do not allow the other to be evocated when he or she is in charge of the child, with the risk for the child that the other parent be sort of ‘lost’ for him or her. This has been confimed by a large 1999 study by Solomon & George. It therefore seems necessary to introduce some precaution principle into a progressive calendar for the child, along with the help of an infant specialist of each case. More studies are needed with sufficient methodology to include and follow those infants, along with those who seem to tolerate this setting.
Adolescent adjustment and family processes 4 1/2 years after parental separation were examined through telephone interviews with 517 adolescents (10 1/2 to 18 years old) living in mother, father, or dual residence. Residence differences in adjustment were small in magnitude, with adolescents in father residence adjusting somewhat more poorly than adolescents in other arrangements, especially in comparison to dual-resident adolescents. The link between residence and adjustment was primarily indirect, mediated by differences in closeness to and monitoring by the residential parent. Father residence was directly related to poorer adjustment only for certain subgroups of adolescents: Those who had shifted residences one or more times since parental separation, and those whose parents were still hostile 3 1/2 years after separation.
The present study compares the experiences and adjustment of children in joint and maternal custody arrangements. The subjects were 133 children who had experienced parental separation within the past 30 months and ranged in age from 8 to 15 years. Children were interviewed about their recent divorce-related experiences and completed questionnaires that assessed anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and hostility. Parents also completed a questionnaire about their children's behavior problems. Children in joint custody arrangements reported a significantly greater number of positive experiences than children in maternal custody (p <.05). No differences in child symptomatology occurred across the custody arrangements; however, children in joint custody reported higher levels of self-esteem (p <. 05) and had more weekly contact with the parent with whom they did not primarily reside than did children in maternal custody (p <. 05). The importance of research on the effects of various custody arrangements for the development of sound social policy is discussed.
Development of research on intrafamily conflict and violence requires both conceptual clarity and measures of the concepts. The introduction to this paper therefore seeks to clarify and distinguish the concepts of "conflict," "conflict of interest," "hostility," and "violence." The main part of the paper describes the Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. The CT Scales are designed to measure the use of Reasoning, Verbal Aggression, and Violence within the family. Information is presented on the following aspects of this instrument: theoretical rational, acceptability to respondents, scoring, factor structure, reliability, validity, and norms for a nationally representative sample of 2,143 couples.
Comparisons of the impact on the child of parenting arrangements as a result of parental divorce were examined. Twenty-four children were matched in eight triplets consisting of one joint-custody child, one single-custody child, and one child from an intact family. Results of this exploratory study revealed that shared parenting in joint custody was at least as beneficial, perhaps more beneficial parenting arrangement than the solo parenting arrangement for children in custody due to parental divorce.
Research tries to highlight the impact of parental separation upon children. After a separation, childrens’living arrangements seem to be an important variable because it modulates the familiy relationships. We focused our study on late adolescence, because it’s the time when the second individuation process develops (Blos, 1967). We met 29 female adolescents in order to know how each kind of living arrangement influenced their individuation process in their family. We used different clinical tools. We can see that the type of living arrangement has a real impact upon emmeshment and distanciation process during adolescence, and upon the quality of the relationships between the adolescent and her both parents.
This study investigates the relationship between joint and sole physical custody arrangements and parental hostility, conflict, and communication in divorced families. Data from both self-report and clinical ratings from 121 families were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression in order to determine predictors of parental hostility, conflict, and communication 2-3 years after the separation. Family structures variables such as ages and numbers of children, as well as SES differences between parents were included in the model. Results show that where both parents have more frequent access to their children, they communicate with each other more frequently, but also experience greater hostility and conflict in their relationship. A second result indicates that extreme levels of parental verbal or physical abuse is predicted by extreme abuse during the marital years and is not related to custody or visitation arrangements, nor to family structure variables 2-3 years post-separation.
Examined patterns of custody and their relationship to the behavioral-emotional and social adjustment of 93 children, ages 3–14, in divorcing families. Assessed children and their parents within 1 year after parents filed for divorce, and again 1 and 2 years later. Children in joint physical custody (38%) had more access to both parents and made slightly more transitions between parental homes. However, custody arrangements were not significantly related to child adjustment. Factors associated with child adjustment included number of children in the family, child age and gender, parental depression/anxiety at baseline, and parental conflict at 1-year follow-up. Thus, no evidence was found that joint physical custody arrangements are different from sole physical custody arrangements with regard to child adjustment postdivorce. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Study 1 was a 3-yr longitudinal study of 1,124 divorcing families that focused on custodial arrangements and interparental communication and conflict. Study 2 was a follow-up study of the adolescent children from the Study 1 families that focused on adolescents' relationships with resident and nonresident parents, on processes in each parental household, and on adolescents' adjustment in different custodial arrangements. Parental roles differed substantially after divorce, with mothers carrying the primary responsibility for residential care and economic support. Most fathers remained substantially involved in their children's lives over the duration of the studies. Adolescents were doing at least as well in joint physical custody as when living primarily with 1 parent. The possible costs and benefits of maintaining contact with nonresident parents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Studied the impact of marital separation/divorce on children, focusing on the expression of interparent hostility (IPH) that the child had experienced. 30 families with 38 3–13 yr old children were Ss. The parent with whom the child was living was interviewed using a semi-structured Hostility Schedule. Parents also rated their children on the Louisville Behavior Checklist, a measure of deviant and prosocial behavior. Each child was also interviewed. Information on IPH was gathered for (a) the 2-wk period prior to the interview, and (b) time prior to the marital separation. Significant associations were found between IPH and child adjustment for the time prior to separation: The greater the IPH, the greater the child's maladjustment, especially the 7–23 yr olds. The specific hostile behavior most likely to be associated with child maladjustment was "one or both parents physically attacked each other." Implications for counseling parents and children prior to separation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A longitudinal study of 25 families, with children aged 14 months—5 years, in joint custody, is reported. Varying motivations that lead divorcing parents to undertake and sustain joint custody are discussed, together with the stresses and gratifications of these arrangements for the parents and children. Findings are that where both parents are motivated primarily by interest in the child, where the parenting is sensitive and where the child is shielded from interparental conflict, young children do well. Such families were not the majority in this study. Significant differences emerged in the adjustment of the 1–3 age group as compared with the 3–5 age group which point to greater difficulties for the 3–5 year-olds.
Findings are reported from an empirical investigation of the relationship between divorced spouses one year following the divorce. Interviews covering a wide range of topics were conducted with 54 pairs of divorced parents. It was found that the majority continued to interact with one another; those who interacted the most frequently were the supportive and cooperative coparents.
This study investigated how 200 children from mother-, father-, or joint-custody arrangements perceived their divorced families. The authors argue that it is not the type of custody that shapes the child's view of whether one parent is peripheral but, rather, the nature of relationships within the various custody arrangements.
There are few topics so fascinating both to the research investigator and the research subject as the self-image. It is distinctively characteristic of the human animal that he is able to stand outside himself and to describe, judge, and evaluate the person he is. He is at once the observer and the observed, the judge and the judged, the evaluator and the evaluated. Since the self is probably the most important thing in the world to him, the question of what he is like and how he feels about himself engrosses him deeply. This is especially true during the adolescent stage of development.
Intensive case studies of four families in which divorced parents have maintained joint custody of their children suggest that this arrangement works well under certain conditions. Components of a successful joint custody arrangement are considered, limitations are discussed, and support is urged for divorcing parents interested in establishing joint custody.
Examined differences between 25 divorced fathers with joint custody of children and 145 noncustodial fathers. Variables (e.g., the father–child relationship, the coparental relationship, and economic factors) were assessed with a modified shortened version of Adjustment to Separation and Divorce. Nine variables differentiated the 2 groups of fathers, with frequency of visitation, satisfaction with custody status, and fathers' level of education emerging as the strongest variables. Ss with joint custody had greater contact with their children after divorce, more satisfaction with their custody arrangement, and greater resources (education and income) than did noncustodial fathers.
This study examined adolescents' feelings of being caught between parents to see whether this construct helps to explain (1) variability in their postdivorce adjustment and (2) associations between family/child characteristics and adolescent adjustment. Adolescents 10 to 18 years old (N = 522) were interviewed by telephone 4 1/2 years after their parents' separation. Feeling caught between parents was related to high parental conflict and hostility and low parental cooperation. Being close to both parents was associated with low feelings of being caught. The relation between time spent with each parent and feeling caught depended on the coparenting relationship. Adolescents in dual residence were especially likely to feel caught when parents were in high conflict, and especially unlikely to feel caught when parents cooperated. Feeling caught was related to poor adjustment outcomes. Parental conflict was only related to adjustment outcomes indirectly, through adolescents' feelings of being caught.
A secondary analysis of samples of divorced parents originally interviewed in 4 prior research projects (J. Pearson and N. Thoennes, 1983, 1984, and 1985; S. Steinman et al, in press) examined characteristics of couples with various types of sole and joint custody (JC) arrangements, their experiences with these arrangements, and behavioral and attitudinal outcomes from a longitudinal perspective. JC, especially residential custody (RC), was attractive to more affluent Ss who were cooperative in the early stages of their separation and divorce. JC translated into more visitation and greater paternal involvement. Ss with JC and RC were more cooperative and positive about their ex-spouse's parenting and were less burdened by being a single parent.
The psychological experience of 32 children living in a joint-custody arrangement with their parents is examined. This report is part of a larger study, begun in 1978, of 24 families in which parents have shared childrearing responsibilities and physical custody of their children following marital separation. Findings suggest that joint custody is not a simple solution, and that the reaction of children is highly individual. The need for further study is emphasized.
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