Relationship Components and Nature of Postdivorce Parenting Responsibilities Among Individuals Going Through a Divorce

ABSTRACT

The relationship components and nature of postdivorce parenting responsibilities were examined among individuals going through different levels of conflict as measured by level of court involvement during their divorce and 6 months later. A modification of the Binuclear Family Research Project Questionnaire was employed to examine communication, interaction, anger, guilt, positive feelings, and attitude toward former spouse as a parent for 110 parents of children under the age of 18 going through a divorce or dissolution. Participants were classified into 1 of 4 groups based on level of court involvement: dissolution, divorce with low conflict, divorce with moderate conflict, and divorce with high conflict. Results suggested that individuals going through dissolutions have better communication, more interaction, and a more positive attitude toward their former spouse than individuals going through high-conflict divorces. Suggestions are offered for addressing postdivorce conflict and future research.     

The Tango of Loving Hate: Couple Dynamics in High-Conflict Divorce

This article explores the dynamics of couples embroiled in high-conflict divorce through the theoretical prism of British object relations theory. Such couples are often characterized by primitive object relations, and use splitting and projection as a way of “being in the world.” The fear of the ex-spouse’s retaliation is accompanied by fear of their own destructiveness and a desire to make reparation; however, attempts at reparation at this level of relational functioning rarely achieve reconciliation. In fact, such dynamics create a cycle of terror, retaliation, and failed reparation attempts that in turn leads to further terror, splitting and projection, with the resulting outcome often a high-conflict divorce.     

The Complexity of Families Involved in High-Conflict Disputes: A Postseparation Ecological Transactional Framework

The use of the term ‘high conflict’ to describe a wide range of family dynamics after separation and divorce has increased significantly over the years. At the moment, no consensus on the definition of high conflict exists. Lack of definitional clarity hinders the ability for legal and mental health professionals to assess, identify, and effectively intervene with this population. Based on a rapid evidence assessment of 65 empirically based social science studies relevant to high conflict, this article positions high-conflict separation and divorce using an ecological transactional model to better understand risk factors and indicators associated with these families. Authors propose a more comprehensive definition that captures the complexity and interactions of various risk factors and indicators on multiple levels. Positioning high-conflict families using an ecological model identifies several points of intervention professionals can use and the fundamental need for collaboration among stakeholders for effective intervention.     

Parenting Coordination as an Antidote for High-Conflict Divorce and Court Relitigation

The effects of high-conflict divorce and parental separation on couples and their children are explored along with the costs of ongoing relitigation of these cases in the family court system. Parenting coordination is discussed as an intervention to assist high-conflict divorcing and separating parents to effectively communicate and parent their children following marriage dissolution. It is also presented as an alternative to reduce instances of recurring legal battles. According to the literature reviewed, positive outcomes of decreased relitigation include less expense for the divorcing and separating parents, the family court system, and society as a whole. Implications for practice and research are presented.     

Conflict Patterns and Family of Origin Conflict in Newly Initiated Remarriages

ABSTRACT

The poor marriage material hypothesis explains the high divorce rate in remarriages as a function of the qualities of people who have previously been divorced. This study sought to test whether conflict in the family of origin and in the present marriage could substantiate the poor marriage material hypothesis by discriminating between couples in their first marriage versus those in a marriage with a history of divorce. A sample of 66 newlywed married couples, half in first marriages and half in remarriages, were recruited through marriage licenses and student referrals. Family of origin conflict discriminated between first and remarried couples. Namely, wives' exposure to interparental conflict significantly increased the odds that they were presently married to a husband who had previously been divorced. Differences between first and remarried couples' own conflict patterns were largely unremarkable with the exception of remarried couples seeing their partners as being more compliant and unassertive relative to those in first marriages.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy with a Family in High-Conflict Divorce: A Case Study

Children who live in families with high-conflict divorce situations are increasingly coming to the attention of clinicians. This paper explains the nature of the impasse of high-conflict divorce. It presents a brief theoretical overview of cognitive-behavioral family therapy as an effective approach to treatment for high-conflict divorce families. A case study that successfully utilized a cognitive-behavioral approach to family therapy is presented. Specific techniques such as parent training, communication and empathy skills, problem-solving skills, assertiveness training, role-modeling on the part of the therapist and application of the concept of reciprocal inhibition were included in the cognitive-behavioral family treatment. An N=1 research design is graphically illustrated for evaluation purposes.     

A Short-Term,Small-Group Education and Counseling Program for Separated and Divorced Parents in Conflict

The purpose of this project was to experiment with a small-group educational and ski1ls training approach to divorce education and conflict resolution. Three groups of couples were referred by the court, because of child-centered conflict that the parties brought to court, the last group being the largest (seven couples). They undertook a four week, two hour per week, group education experience. Five of the couples in the last group met the criteria for answering pre and post test questionnaires (attitude and behavior focus), such that one could assess the effect of the group experience on the members. The results indicated that the group's attitudes toward parental cooperation improved significantly, while their self-reported behavior also improved, but not at a significant level. Comments about the process and contrast with large group divorce education are made as a result of the findings. Some focus is given to recommended changes in the process that would likely increase the impact on parents of the effects of their conflict on the children.     

Challenges for Divorced Parents: Regulating Negative Emotions in Post‐Divorce Relationships

Emotion regulation processes in post‐divorce parental relationships are analysed using thematic qualitative analysis. In two separate interview episodes, three and five years post‐divorce, 55 people were interviewed: 10 couples and 35 individuals. Two themes emerged on how parents deal with their negative emotions after divorce. The first theme, emotion regulation flexibility, reveals how some parents effectively regulate negative emotions following the divorce. The second theme, emotion regulation rigidity, reveals that other parents retain feelings of anger, hostility, and resentment following the divorce as a consequence of dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies. This allows a deeper understanding of the processes of emotion regulation in family conflict, which may be easily applied in most therapeutic orientations.     

Marital Conflict Behaviors and Implications for Divorce Over 16 Years

This study examined self‐reported marital conflict behaviors and their implications for divorce. Husbands and wives (N = 373 couples; 47% White American, 53% Black American) reported conflict behaviors in Years 1, 3, 7, and 16 of their marriages. Individual behaviors (e.g., destructive behaviors) and patterns of behaviors between partners (e.g., withdrawal‐constructive) in Year 1 predicted higher divorce rates. Wives' destructive and withdrawal behaviors decreased over time, whereas husbands' conflict behaviors remained stable. Husbands reported more constructive and less destructive behaviors than wives, and Black American couples reported more withdrawal than White American couples. Findings support behavioral theories of marriage demonstrating that conflict behaviors predict divorce and accommodation theories indicating that conflict behaviors become less negative over time.     

A Comparison of High‐ and Low‐Distress Marriages That End in Divorce

We used data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households to study high‐ and low‐distress marriages that end in divorce. A cluster analysis of 509 couples who divorced between waves revealed that about half were in high‐distress relationships and the rest in low‐distress relationships. These 2 groups were not artifacts of the timing of the interview or of measurement error. Irrespective of marital quality, couples who divorced shared many risk characteristics, such as having divorced parents. Individuals in high‐distress marriages reported increases in happiness following divorce, whereas those in low‐distress marriages reported declines in happiness. These results suggest two basic motivations to divorce: poor relationship quality and a weak commitment to marriage.     

Military service and marital dissolution: a trajectory analysis

Military service adds additional challenges for married couples. Previous literature on service and marital stability is comprised of mixed results and has often ignored the timing of these effects. This timing is important as it helps disclose the nature of causality and has implications for both military and social security policies. Using a trajectory specification, I estimate the effect of military service on the likelihood of divorce during the volunteer’s period of service and the years following. Two veteran cohorts are examined, those who served during the early twenty-first century wars and those who served during the early 1980s. Among my results, the former cohort is shown to have had their divorce probability increased in the first 2 years post-service, while the opposite effect is found for the latter cohort. Unlike many previous studies of military service and marital stability, I find that effects are not overly dissimilar across racial groups.     

The Ties That Bind: Family Systems Correlates of Parental Decision-Making in Custody/Access Disputes

Family systems theorists have developed certain concepts which they claim predict marriage outcome and the possible success of divorce mediation, should the marriage fail. In this paper I examine concepts of individual and family functioning. The concept of ‘emotional flexibility’ is presented as a criterion predisposing marriage partners to a more or less fused marriage. This in turn, is seen as predisposing the partners, in the event of separation, either to search for their own parental agreement with regard to their children's wellbeing, or to insist on a Judicial decision. In order to test the applicability of this concept, I explore the results of 64 conciliation conferences conducted by me in the Sydney Registry of the Family Court. I also consider a typology of divorcing couples worked out by divorce therapists, which uses type of spousal interaction as a criterion for predicting suitability for divorce mediation. I analyse the results of 30 Family Reports prepared by me, to test the usefulness of the typology for deciding on the most appropriate method of family dispute resolution for a given couple. I conclude by suggesting systematic exploration of core family system concepts and variables having a modulating effect, that can be used as predictors of client suitability for negotiation as well as to anticipate the type of custody/access arrangements that can be achieved.     

Parents Making Meaning of High‐Conflict Divorce

This article reports on the findings of an empirical study conducted with 25 parents in British Columbia, Canada, who experienced a high‐conflict divorce and later came to see the experience as having been transformative despite the difficulties they faced. While considerable research and policy initiatives frame high‐conflict divorce as an individual and interpersonal problem, there is less reference to the fact that these disputes occur in a social, political, and legal context that also changes over time and across generations. There has been little research examining long‐term divorce outcomes, and no research to date examining how mothers and fathers who experienced a high‐conflict divorce process overcome their difficulties and make meaning of their experiences retrospectively. This interdisciplinary study starts to fill these gaps. Following an overview of the study findings, the article highlights common themes arising from parents' narratives with a particular focus on agency, voice, and meaning‐making across the life course. I argue that by taking a long view of the challenges participants faced, it is possible to move away from decontextualised understandings of high‐conflict divorce.     

The Effect of Childbearing Age on Child Support Awards and Economic Well Being Among Divorcing Mothers

Most teenage mothers eventually marry but are at greater risk for subsequent marital disruption than those who delayed childbearing, and those who began parenting early are likely to experience greater economic insecurity as divorced/separated couples, we compare the economic status of ever-teen mothers and never-teen mothers at the time of divorce. We also examine the potential of an effective child support system to improve economic well being among families initially created by a birth to a teenager. The findings indicate that ever-teen mothers who experience a divorce have lower overall economic well being than their counterparts who delayed childbearing, and the former husbands of these women have less ability to pay child support than the husbands of never-teen mothers.     

Before They Said “I Do”: Discriminating Among Marital Outcomes Over 13 Years

One hundred couples were followed for 13 years from the premarital period well through the primary risk period for divorce. Results of discriminant analysis indicated that couples who remain satisfied, become distressed, and divorce can be reliably classified on the basis of premarital data. Further, both previously identified demographic risk factors and couple interaction variables contributed to classification accuracy, suggesting that both types of variables play important roles in relationship outcomes. The method employed here addresses weakness in previous studies by: (a) following couples for an extended period after marriage, (b) using multiple validated self‐report and observational measures, and (c) making predictions simultaneously for divorced, distressed, and satisfied couples.     

How Long Does a Santa Barbara Divorce Take?

There has been considerable research about the amount of time the psychological grief process requires when couples divorce. However, there has been little research on the time the actual process of divorce requires. To address this, we obtained free and publicly available information on divorce cases from Santa Barbara County. We are able to offer some insight about the relationship among the length of divorce, marriage length, and having minor children. Our results are consistent with those found in other literature that focuses on the length of the grief process, and our results are consistent with our experiences in family law practice and mediation.     

Parental Predivorce Relations and Offspring Postdivorce Well‐Being

This 2‐part study uses national longitudinal interview data from parents and their adult children to examine the way in which predivorce marital conflict influences the impact of divorce on children. In the 1st study, we find that the dissolution of low‐conflict marriages appears to have negative effects on offspring's lives, whereas the dissolution of high‐conflict marriages appears to have beneficial effects. The dissolution of low‐conflict marriages is associated with the quality of children's intimate relationships, social support from friends and relatives, and general psychological well‐being. The 2nd study considers how parents in low‐conflict marriages that end in divorce differ from other parents before divorce. We find that low‐conflict parents who divorce are less integrated into the community, have fewer impediments to divorce, have more favorable attitudes toward divorce, are more predisposed to engage in risky behavior, and are less likely to have experienced a parental divorce.     

Divorce in Norwegian Same‐Sex Marriages and Registered Partnerships: The Role of Children

Using Norwegian register data on the total population of same‐sex couples who formalized their unions from 1993 through 2010 (N = 3,422, 52% male), this study addressed the level and correlates of divorce among these couples as compared with all opposite‐sex marriages in the same period (N = 407,495). In particular, the authors investigated the role of same‐sex parenting, which has received little study so far. Multivariate results confirmed that same‐sex couples had a higher divorce risk compared with opposite‐sex couples and that female couples were more divorce prone than male couples. Furthermore, having children was negatively related to divorce among female couples, whereas male couples with common children were more divorce prone than their childless counterparts. No evidence was found that the gender gap in divorce or the difference between same‐sex and opposite‐sex couples narrowed over the study period.     

Religious Dynamics and Marital Dissolution: A Latent Class Approach

Past research on religious homogamy has struggled to distinguish whether religiosity or homogamy has a stronger impact on preventing a marital dissolution. To rectify this problem, I use a latent class approach to compare couples with various forms of partner religiosity and similarity. Based on 707 newlywed couples from the Marriage Matters survey (1998–2004), I discovered four latent classes: “holy” couples (both partners are highly religious), “nonattending” couples (both partners identify as religious but don’t regularly attend services), “unbalanced” couples (the wife is religious but the husband is not), and “secular” couples (both partners are not religious). Findings indicate that holy, nonattending, and unbalanced couples experience less odds of divorce compared with secular couples, suggesting that religiosity in a variety of forms is more important than partner similarity in avoiding divorce.     

Should It Be Easy? Divorce Process Attitudes Among Those Who Have Split Up in Midlife

This grounded theory analysis examines the gray divorced population’s attitudes about the divorce process, that is, whether those who have experienced a divorce at age 50 or older believe divorce should be easier or harder to obtain in U.S. society. Among the 40 men and 40 women interviewed in this analysis, there were divorce delayers, who wanted to make divorce laws stricter; divorce facilitators, who championed more flexible divorce laws; divorce ambivalents, who held mixed views; and marriage gatekeepers, who advocated on behalf of status quo divorce laws but tougher relationship-strengthening requirements before marriage. The diversity of these participants’ views reflects those voices in the general population who continue to see divorce as a complex decision for most couples.