Quality of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Following Separation and Divorce

A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Child-Reported Maternal Warmth on Cortisol Stress Response 15 Years After Parental Divorce

“…Parental divorce is a well-established risk factor for a number of short-and long-term mental and physical health problems. However, the presence of a responsive, supportive caregiver has consistently emerged as a protective influence for children exposed to varied forms of adversity, including children from divorced families (44). The current longitudinal study evaluated maternal warmth as a protective influence on biological regulation among young adults who experienced parental divorce during childhood.…”

“…Finally, we did not evaluate the impact of paternal warmth on offspring cortisol regulation. The father-child relationship is typically more disrupted following divorce than the mother-child relationship (58) and the quality of paternal parenting is independently related to children’s post-divorce adjustment (44). A growing research literature recognizes the importance of father-child relationships for developing biological regulatory systems as well (e.g., 59), and it will be important to consider paternal warmth in future research.…”

“…Second, existing longitudinal studies with children at risk due to a variety of adversities have not examined prospective relations between parental warmth and cortisol regulation over prolonged periods of time (e.g., into adulthood). Third, theoretical and empirical accounts suggest that parental divorce may pose a risk to developing biological regulation, and positive mother-child relationships are consistently associated with improved child psychological adjustment post-divorce (44), but research has not yet prospectively evaluated maternal warmth as a predictor of cortisol regulation in children from divorced families. Finally, studies of the impact of parental warmth on children’s health primarily rely on caregiver reports, while retrospective research in adulthood primarily relies on offspring ratings.…”

Separación o divorcio de los padres. Consecuencias en los hijos y recomendaciones a los padres y pediatras

“…En Chile, habitualmente, este es el hogar materno. Sin embargo con el fin de facilitar el tránsito entre un tipo de familia biparental a uno uniparental, ambos padres pueden participar con los mismos derechos y deberes en la crianza y educación de sus hijos, que es lo que se pretende a través del concepto de "co-custodia" 34,35 o custodia compartida. Este sistema es aquel en que el padre y madre comparten la autoridad y responsabilidad de la toma de decisiones respecto de sus hijos y ambos se ven a sí mismos como igualmente significativos en la vida de ellos.…”

Parents Forever: Evaluation of an Online Divorce Education Program

“…RCTs with both the New Beginnings program (Dawson-McClure, Sandler, Wolchik, & Millsap, 2004;Soper, Wolchik, Tein, & Sandler, 2010;Tein, Sandler, MacKinnon, & Wolchik, 2004;Wolchik et al, 2002;Wolchik, Sandler, Weiss, & Winslow, 2007;Wolchik et al, 2000;Wolchik et al, 1993) and the Parenting Through Change program DeGarmo, Patterson, & Forgatch, 2004;Forgatch, Patterson, DeGarmo, & Beldavs, 2009;Martinez & Forgatch, 2001) demonstrated long-term effectiveness in improving parenting practices and a positive impact on child adjustment. Sandler et al (2012) cautioned that although the results of these interventions are impressive and have been rigorously evaluated, the samples in each were non-Hispanic White mothers with children age 6 and older, and therefore their conclusions should not automatically be generalized to fathers, parents of younger children, or parents from other ethnic groups. However, "the experimental trials provide strong support for the inference that high-quality maternal parenting has a causal effect to reduce youths' post-divorce adjustment problems" (Sandler et al, 2012, p. 10), and this effect could be replicated with divorce education programs (Salem et al, 2013).…”