The good, the bad, and the ugly : divorced mothers' experiences with coparenting

Communication Among Parents Who Share Physical Custody After Divorce or Separation

“…Markham and Coleman (2012) found that women who chose their custody arrangement had better coparenting relationships and, in turn, improved communication than those who felt as though their custody arrangement was forced on them. Similarly for the coparents in this study, those who negotiated their own arrangement either at the time of the divorce or who have a flexible and informal arrangement they work out together as time goes on have more frequent and positive communication on a number of topics than those with strict formal arrangements dictated by the court.…”

Rethinking Maternal Gatekeeping

“…Afterward, she may become a traditional gate blocker, in which she limits and restricts him. On the contrary, Markman and Coleman (2012) found that after divorce some mothers fell into a ''bad to better'' category, in which coparenting relationships went from high conflict to more cooperative. In this situation, opinionated gate watching may be an important transitory condition for mothers moving from traditional gatekeeping to passive gate welcoming.…”

“…We speculate that the intention of these mothers is not to increase father involvement but to maintain a high level of father involvement in already active fathers. We speculate that passive gate welcoming may occur in divorced families where custody is evenly shared and that are identified as having ''always amicable'' coparental relationships (Markman & Coleman, 2012). Further, this form of gatekeeping may occur in high-risk families where positive coparental relationships lead to increased father involvement (Carlson, McLanahan, & Brooks-Gunn, 2008).…”

Transitioning to Postdivorce Family Life: A Grounded Theory Investigation of Resilience in Coparenting

“…In their study of postdivorce fathering identities, Troilo and Coleman (2012) study of postdivorce fathering identities found that the most involved fathers (what the authors referred to as ''fulltime fathers'') focused their energy and attention on their children, reframed situations that seemed unfair (e.g., seeing their children less than they wanted), and followed the parenting plan to avoid confrontation with their former partners. Similarly, Markham and Coleman (2012) found that mothers with shared custody had less contentious relationships when they felt in control of the custody arrangement and trusted their former partners' parenting. In their typology, Markham and Coleman identified three types of coparenting relationships (e.g., always amicable, whose relationships were consistently positive; bad to better, whose relationships improved over time; and continuously contentious, who experienced ongoing conflict).…”