Living in two homes-a Swedish national survey of wellbeing in 12 and 15 year olds with joint physical custody

Abstract

BackgroundThe practice of joint physical custody, where children spend equal time in each parent’s home after they separate, is increasing in many countries. It is particularly common in Sweden, where this custody arrangement applies to 30 per cent of children with separated parents. The aim of this study was to examine children’s health-related quality of life after parental separation, by comparing children living with both parents in nuclear families to those living in joint physical custody and other forms of domestic arrangements.MethodsData from a national Swedish classroom study of 164,580 children aged 12 and 15-years-old were analysed by two-level linear regression modelling. Z-scores were used to equalise scales for ten dimensions of wellbeing from the KIDSCREEN-52 and the KIDSCREEN-10 Index and analysed for children in joint physical custody in comparison with children living in nuclear families and mostly or only with one parent.ResultsLiving in a nuclear family was positively associated with almost all aspects of wellbeing in comparison to children with separated parents. Children in joint physical custody experienced more positive outcomes, in terms of subjective wellbeing, family life and peer relations, than children living mostly or only with one parent. For the 12-year-olds, beta coefficients for moods and emotions ranged from −0.20 to −0.33 and peer relations from −0.11 to −0.20 for children in joint physical custody and living mostly or only with one parent. The corresponding estimates for the 15-year-olds varied from −0.08 to −0.28 and from −0.03 to −0.13 on these subscales. The 15-year-olds in joint physical custody were more likely than the 12-year-olds to report similar wellbeing levels on most outcomes to the children in nuclear families.ConclusionsChildren who spent equal time living with both parents after a separation reported better wellbeing than children in predominantly single parent care. This was particularly true for the 15-year-olds, while the reported wellbeing of 12-years-olds was less satisfactory. There is a need for further studies that can account for the pre and post separation context of individual families and the wellbeing of younger age groups in joint physical custody.

Familial Liability for Eating Disorders and Suicide Attempts

“…15,16 We did not observe this pattern, which could be the result of (1) the absence of family environmental effects, consistent with twin studies reporting minimal family environmental effects on either eating disorders or suicide [29][30][31][32] ; (2) inadequate statistical power; or (3) changes in custody arrangements that led to fewer differences in shared family environment between maternal and paternal half siblings than expected. 33 Our pattern of results reflects those of a recent twin study 34 reporting common genetic, but not family environmental, influence on both eating disorders and suicide. These results suggest that heritable and common risk factors for both eating disorders and suicide attempts may exist and be useful for risk identification.…”

“…27 However, more children now spend equal amounts of time with both parents after parental divorce than before. 33 Nevertheless, this trend was less likely to influence the older individuals in the study population. Finally, identification of the comorbid conditions might be incomplete since only diagnoses captured via health care contacts were included in the register.…”

Shared Physical Custody: Summary of 40 Studies on Outcomes for Children

“…In the first study, 443 shared parenting children had more close friends and fewer problems making friends than the 2,920 children in sole residence, and were no different in regard to being aggressive or violent, using drugs, and drinking (Jablonska & Lindberg, 2007). In the second, the 17,350 shared adolescents rated themselves higher on 7 of the 11 scales of well-being than the 34,452 in sole residence (Bergstrom et al, 2013). The shared children were better off in regard to their emotional, social, and psychological well-being, peer relationships and social acceptance, and physical health.…”

Family residency and psychosomatic problems among adolescents in Sweden: The impact of child-parent relations

“…Only a few studies have examined the possible age differences in the association between family type and children's well-being, and these studies convey slightly different results [13,17]. There is also a scarcity of studies focusing on the possible interaction effect of joint physical custody and child-parent relations on adolescent mental health.…”