Postdivorce Coparenting Relationships and Parent–Youth Relationships: Are Repartnership and Parent–Youth Contact Moderators?

Abstract

Using data from 392 divorced mothers and fathers, living in the United States, with a child between 10 and 18 years old, we first identified three types of postdivorce coparenting relationships ( cooperative, moderately engaged, and conflictual and disengaged) based on coparenting communication, cooperation, and conflict. We then tested if three aspects of parent–youth relationships differed between those groups. Parental warmth and support, parental knowledge, and inconsistent discipline did not differ based on the type of postdivorce coparenting relationship participants had with their ex-spouses. Finally, we tested if repartnership (i.e., being remarried or cohabiting with a new partner) or parent–youth contact moderated the associations between postdivorce coparenting and parent–youth relationships. There was one significant moderation effect. When parent–youth contact was monthly or less, parental knowledge appears lower in the conflictual and disengaged cluster compared with the other two clusters.

“The troublesome other and I”: Parallel stories of separated parents in prolonged conflicts

“…We suggest that family therapists should shift the focus from solving co‐parental relationship problems to help each parent in a prolonged conflict to buffer the risk and promote resilience in their child. This approach is in line with research that indicates that parent–youth relationships might not be affected by divorced parents engaging in conflictual co‐parenting and that recommending alternative forms of co‐parenting (e.g., parallel) could better meet the needs of parents and youth (Beckmeyer et al, 2019). Kelly (2007) argues that children appear to thrive with parents who engage in conflict‐free parallel parenting if they have adequate parenting in both homes and well‐articulated parenting agreements.…”

Joint Physical Custody and Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction in 37 North American and European Countries

“…It is a worldwide phenomenon that in the majority of families, children stay with their mothers after parental break up and suffer from less contact or even no contact and involvement with their fathers (e.g., Holt, 2016; Kalmijn, 2015; Köppen, Kreyenfeld, & Trappe, 2018). However, it has been shown that the involvement of fathers after family dissolution has positive effects on children’s well‐being in many respects (e.g., Adamsons & Johnson, 2013; Beckmeyer, Stafford Markham, & Troilo, 2019; Kalmijn, 2016; Poortman, 2018). Thus, it can be expected that there is an association between children’s well‐being and the physical custody arrangement in nonintact families that formalizes the time that children spend with their parents.…”

Postdivorce Coparenting Patterns and Relations With Adolescent Adjustment

“…The fact that several studies have found similar postdivorce coparenting patterns based on data collected between 1984 and 2016 among divorced and separated mothers and fathers with children between 3 and 19 years old speaks for the reliability and generalizability of its findings. Nevertheless, researchers have noted that children may perceive coparenting relationships differently than parents (e.g., Beckmeyer et al, 2019). Co-parents may not agree on how they assess their coparental relationship, and parents may overestimate their own coparenting skills.…”