Family Members' Narratives of Divorce and Interparental Conflict: Implications for Parental Alienation

This study focused on the internal dynamics of family members who experience divorce and interparental conflict. Interparental conflict and triangulating children increase the likelihood of alienating children from a parent. Narrative interviews with members of three families were used to explore meaning structures. Results showed how parents and children thought, felt, and created meaning about their experiences; how family members responded to conflict and behaviors associated with parental alienation; and how they viewed family relationships. Metalevel findings suggested each family member held dichotomous views and used cognitive and behavioral control response strategies. Thus, parental alienation stems from a relational dynamic and needs to be addressed from a family systems perspective.     

A Therapeutic Model to Enhance Children's Adjustment to Divorce

Research has revealed many detrimental effects of divorce upon children often related to ongoing conflict between biological parents. A therapeutic model, demonstrated by a case example, is presented which targets the conflict between divorced parents. This therapeutic approach is based upon negotiating cooperation among custodial and nonastodial parents. This is accomplished by clarifying the changed relationships resulting from divorce between the adults and children allowing all members of the divorced families to grieve the loss of predivorce relationships. Distinct new relationships are defined between all family members which reduce the need for adults to compete in relationships with the children.     

Living Arrangements of Single Parents and Their Children in South Korea

As the divorce rate in South Korea increases, an increasing proportion of children are growing up in single-parent families. Given the limited public support and disadvantages for women in the labor market, it is expected that single parents in Korea, single mothers in particular, are more likely to use family ties to mitigate economic and social difficulties, including the option to live with their parents. We assessed the living arrangements of single parents and their children with respect to co-residence with the grandparents of the children using samples from the 2010 Korean Census and the Program for International Student Assessment conducted in 2009. We found that a fairly small proportion of single mothers live with their parents and that the prevalence of co-residence with parents among both single mothers and single fathers was relatively low in Korea compared with Japan and Taiwan. We also found that single parents with a higher level of education are more likely to live with their parents than those with less education, which contrasts with the pattern found in the United States. We discuss the implications of our findings in contemporary Korea, which has traditionally been regarded as a country with strong family ties.     

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy and Play Therapy for Young Children Whose Parents Are Divorced

ABSTRACT

Divorce is common and can pose risks to those involved. Although divorce affects all parts of the family system, young children face extraneous challenges due to their unique developmental stage and limited cognitive ability. Emotionally focused family therapy (EFFT) works to enhance attachment bonds by restructuring a family’s negative interaction cycle and can be useful for repairing relationships between parents and their children who are suffering negative effects of parental divorce. Whereas adults have the skills to express themselves verbally, young children often use imaginary play to convey their emotional experiences and unmet attachment needs. By using play therapy techniques within an EFFT framework, adults and children can better communicate their perspectives concerning difficult life events such as parental divorce.     

Young Adults with Childhood Experience of Divorce: Disappointment and Contentment

The aim of this study was to use in-depth interviews to identify and describe experiences of parental divorce among adult children whose parents divorced 15 years earlier. Ten out of 76 interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Two categories of experiences were identified: disappointment and contentment. Two subcategories of disappointment were distinguished: disappointment toward mother, father, or both, and disappointment with relatives and other surrounding persons. Four subcategories of contentment were distinguished: contentment in the belief that the members of the original family received a good or even better life after the divorce, contentment with how the divorce was handled by the parents, contentment and inner strength as a part of the child's own personality, and contentment with receiving adequate help during and after the parental divorce.     

Divorce and Mid- and Later Life Families: A Phenomenological Analysis with Implications for Family Life Educators

ABSTRACT

A growing number of mid- and later life individuals and families are experiencing divorce and remarriage. Mid- and later life families are those who have begun to or may have launched their adult children. As a result, these families may include in-laws and grandchildren. Limited research has addressed the potentially unique experiences of these families whose lives are made more complex and complicated by divorce, remarriage, or both. The purpose of this article is to examine, from a phenomenological perspective, the lived experiences of individuals and families experiencing divorce in mid- and later life. In so doing, four case studies are presented that represent four common pathways through divorce and remarriage in mid- and later life: career divorced, seasoned divorced, newly divorced, and interrupted career divorced. Using these case studies and our interpretation of them based on a phenomenological approach, we offer implications for family life educators for improving the delivery of educational services to families facing mid- and later life divorce and remarriage.     

Comparing the Effects of Amount of Conflict on Children's Adjustment Following Parental Divorce

This study examined the immediate and short-term effects on children of the conflict (as reflected by the level of court involvement) their family experiences during divorce proceedings. Families going through various levels of divorce (dissolution, divorce with little litigation, moderate litigation, and high levels of litigation) were investigated. Seventy-six parents (31 men and 45 women) between the ages of 22 and 53 who had children ranging in age from 2 to 17 years old participated. The Divorce Adjustment Inventory–Revised was completed by the parents immediately following the divorce hearing and again 6 months later. Results indicated that families experiencing a higher level of conflict (as measured by level of court involvement) displayed more family conflict or maladjustment, less favorable divorce conditions and child coping ability, and less positive divorce resolution. Implications of the study and indications for future research are discussed.     

Questioning the Suitability of Traditional Self-Report Family Functioning Measures for Single-Parent Families with Young Children

Family functioning is a common interest of social science and health researchers. Most often, well-established self-report instruments are used to measure family functioning. Although these instruments have been used with families of diverse compositions, our experiences using one of the commonly used instruments, the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), suggest that it is not appropriate for single-parent families with young children. In addition to describing the difficulties we encountered with the FAD, we discuss our experiences in relation to current research findings about the processes and effectiveness of family functioning in single-parent families. As well, we examine other frequently used self-report family functioning instruments, the results of which lead us to question the suitability of any of the commonly used self-report family functioning instruments for single-parent families with young children. We conclude by arguing for the development of family functioning instruments that are appropriate for diverse family structures and compositions.     

Parental Divorce and Child Mental Health Trajectories

A process‐oriented approach to parental divorce locates the experience within the social and developmental context of children's lives, providing greater insight into how parental divorce produces vulnerability in some children and resiliency in others. The current study involves prospectively tracking a nationally representative sample of Canadian children of ages 4–7 and living with two biological parents at initial interview in 1994 (N = 2,819), and comparing the mental health trajectories of children whose parents remain married with those whose parents divorce by 1998. Results from growth curve models confirm that, even before marital breakup, children whose parents later divorce exhibit higher levels of anxiety/depression and antisocial behavior than children whose parents remain married. There is a further increase in child anxiety/depression but not antisocial behavior associated with the event of parental divorce itself. Controlling for predivorce parental socioeconomic and psychosocial resources fully accounts for poorer child mental health at initial interview among children whose parents later divorce, but does not explain the divorce‐specific increase in anxiety/depression. Finally, a significant interaction between parental divorce and predivorce levels of family dysfunction suggests that child antisocial behavior decreases when marriages in highly dysfunctional families are dissolved.     

Postdivorce Parenting: A Study of Recently Divorced Mothers and Fathers

ABSTRACT

Divorce is challenging for parents with children, commonly resulting in a series of individual and interpersonal adjustments. The time immediately following divorce can be particularly difficult. This study used a modified grounded theory approach to explore the experiences of 99 recently divorced mothers and fathers. Analysis of written narratives revealed 4 emergent groups of parents who described their postdivorce parenting experiences: good divorce, good enough, bad to better, and bad. Each group described their experiences across several areas including coparenting, father involvement, challenges of single parenting, personal turmoil, and their children’s adjustment. Implications for research and divorce education are discussed.     

Children's narratives of post-divorce family life: from individual experience to an ethical disposition

This article draws on interviews with 60 children and young people to explore how they construct narrative accounts of post‐divorce family life. Rather than seeking to describe children's experiences as if their accounts are simple factual recollections, the focus of the article is on how young people position themselves in their narratives and the ways in which they construct their past experiences. It is argued that these narratives are multi‐layered, often revealing ambivalence and contradictions. The conclusion turns to the question of whether these individual accounts can give rise to what might be referred to as an ethical disposition in which children's experiences can inform a broader social ethos on how to divorce ‘in the proper manner’.     

Parenting From Abroad: Migration,Nonresident Father Involvement,and Children's Education in Mexico

In Mexico, a country with high emigration rates, parental migration matches divorce as a contributor to child–father separation. Yet little has been written about children's relationships with migrating parents. In this study, I use nationally representative data from the 2005 Mexican Family Life Survey to model variation in the interaction between 739 children in Mexico and their nonresident fathers. I demonstrate that, from the perspective of sending households, parental migration and parental divorce are substantively distinct experiences. Despite considerable geographic separation, Mexican children have significantly more interaction with migrating fathers than they do with fathers who have left their homes following divorce. Further, ties with migrant fathers are positively correlated with schooling outcomes, which potentially mitigates the observed education costs of family separation.     

Adult Children of Divorce: Awareness and Intervention

Parental midlife divorce impacts children who are adults at the time of the separation event. This article examines the family life cycle and stages as well as the transitions that occur when parents divorce at midlife. Specifically, the divorce impacts on the adult children are examined in relation to their unique life stage. Therapeutic practice implications and theories will also be explored in relation to assisting adult children of divorce reconcile the divorce experience of their parents.     

“It Is Not a Big Deal,I Can Do It,Too”: Influence of Parental Divorce on Professional Women's Marital Experience in Turkey

This article reports on a study of how parental divorce affects the marriage and divorce experiences of professional women in Turkey. Drawing on the retrospective accounts of eight professional women in relation to their own divorce and those of their parents, this study highlights the role of parental divorce and cultural context in adult children's attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding their own union formation. Based on this small qualitative sample, results demonstrate that parental divorce affected women's entire lives, with considerable impact on their commitment to marriage and view of divorce in general. They learn from their parents that marriages can be broken when they do not function properly. As a result, instead of being more patient or self- sacrificing, as is frequently advised to women in Turkish society, the women in this study readily tended toward divorce as a viable solution to marital problems.     

The Impact of Parental Divorce: The Relationship Between Social Support and Confidence Levels in Young Adults

Parental divorce is a life transition that affects a substantial number of children each year. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social support and confidence levels (defined as career expectations and confidence in romantic relationships) for those impacted by parental divorce. Three hundred and twelve young adults participated in the study. The results indicate that the quality of social support had a significantly positive relationship with career expectations and romantic relationship confidence. The findings suggest quality relationships regarding social support are more significant than quantity or amount of social support given by parents, family members, or friends.     

The Effects of Parental Divorce: A Culture-Specific Challenge for Young Adults in South Korea

Extensive research into the offspring of divorced parents has indicated associations between parental divorce and developmental outcomes for young adults. Nevertheless the impact of cultural variation on the lives of young people with divorced parents has been neglected. Qualitative research using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to examine the experiences of six Korean adults of divorced parents, who detailed the impact of parental divorce on their lives and told us how their feelings toward their parents and their own ideas about family formation had been reevaluated. Overall, participants expressed concerns in common with other children of divorce and concerns specific to their Confucian cultural context, namely ambivalent feelings toward their parents' divorce, confusion about traditional filial piety, and a view of the self as damaged and needing reinvestment.     

Significant Family Dynamics Related to Postdivorce Adjustment in Parents and Children

ABSTRACT

This study concentrates on the postdivorce adjustment of parents and children in families with shared parenting time arrangements. Thirty divorcing parents with children aged 12 to 59 months old were interviewed using a semistructured telephone interview regarding their early experiences in the divorce process. Findings showed that work–family balance issues were related to postdivorce parental adjustment for mothers. Interparental hostility was related to child alienation and paternal overnight stays. Length of time since physical separation was related to number of overnight stays. These results shed light on the early experiences of families with young children going through the divorce process.     

For the Sake of the Children

Without exception divorce is a significant event in the life of any child. For the child, divorce may represent a sense of loss, a sense of failure in interpersonal relationships, and a prelude to a difficult transition to new life patterns. Unfortunately, in our society today there is a limited support system available to the family through this process of change and emotional stress. Today, regardless of even religious beliefs, it is widely accepted that there are those situations in which it is impossible for all family members to remain together in the traditional pattern of living. The psychological effects of divorce and separation on children cannot be viewed in a unitary way. The circumstances around the divorce and separation must be considered as well as the age, sex, and personality makeup of the child. When we consider the effect of divorce or separation on children, we must equally consider the effects of living in a home where there may be ongoing tension, conflict and stress. "For the sake of the child," regardless of the short and long-term consequences, divorce or separation at times is the most viable solution to optimizing the potential of that child for sound emotional and personal growth.     

Symbiotic mothers and infantilized only children: A subtype of single-parent family

One single-parent family pattern is the enmeshed mother/onlychild dyad. Women marry to have children, and then divorce, while mother and child live out the reciprocally gratifying symbiotic period. When these mothers hamper offspring moves toward separation-individuation, post-divorce difficulties bring them to treatment. These difficulties are distinct from those found in other single-parent families. Intervention can move mother and child from the prolonged symbiosis. Treatment stresses modification of low maternal selfesteem, and correction of pathogenic maternal behavior. Re-introduction of the father to the system can also free both mother and child for further growth.     

Children's involvement in their parents' divorce: implications for practice

The paper reports findings from a research study that explored children's experience of divorce. It shows that children experience parental divorce as a crisis in their lives but that they are able to mobilise internal and external resources to regain a new point of balance. In doing so, children demonstrate the degree to which they are active and competent participants in the process of family dissolution. The implications of the data are then considered in relation to engaging with children involved in divorce and in relation to some of the cultural presumptions that might militate against hearing what they have to say about their experiences. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.