Shared Physical Custody: Summary of 40 Studies on Outcomes for Children

One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and professionals involved in making custody decisions is this: What type of parenting plan is most beneficial for the children after their parents separate? More specifically, are the outcomes any better or worse for children who live with each parent at least 35% of the time compared to children who live primarily with their mother and spend less than 35% of the time living with their father? This article addresses this question by summarizing the 40 studies that have compared children in these two types of families during the past 25 years. Overall the children in shared parenting families had better outcomes on measures of emotional, behavioral, and psychological well-being, as well as better physical health and better relationships with their fathers and their mothers, benefits that remained even when there were high levels of conflict between their parents.     

Shared Parenting After Divorce: A Review of Shared Residential Parenting Research

One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and the family court system is what type of parenting plan is most beneficial for children after their parents' divorce. How much time should children live with each parent? An increasing number of children are living with each parent at least 35% of the time in shared residential parenting families: How are these children and their parents faring? In what ways, if any, do divorced parents who share the residential parenting differ from parents whose children live almost exclusively with their mother? How stable are shared residential parenting plans? By reviewing the existing studies on shared parenting families, these questions are addressed.     

Overnight Custody Arrangements,Attachment, and Adjustment Among Very Young Children

Large numbers of infants and toddlers have parents who live apart due to separation, divorce, or nonmarital/noncohabiting childbearing, yet this important topic, especially the controversial issue of frequent overnights with nonresidential parents, is understudied. The authors analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal investigation of children born to primarily low‐income, racial/ethnic minority parents that is representative of 20 U.S. cities with populations over 200,000. Among young children whose parents lived apart, 6.9% of infants (birth to age 1) and 5.3% of toddlers (ages 1 to 3) spent an average of at least 1 overnight per week with their nonresident parent. An additional 6.8% of toddlers spent 35%–70% of overnights with nonresident parents. Frequent overnights were significantly associated with attachment insecurity among infants, but the relationship was less clear for toddlers. Attachment insecurity predicted adjustment problems at ages 3 and 5, but frequent overnights were not directly linked with adjustment problems at older ages.     

Pop Goes the Woozle: Being Misled by Research on Child Custody and Parenting Plans

Mental health professionals, lawyers, and judges whose work involves child custody decisions are often presented with social science research on issues related to which parenting plan is in the children’s best interests. Unfortunately, this research can be misrepresented in ways that mislead these professionals and the children’s parents, leading to child custody decisions that are not the most beneficial for the children. The process of misrepresenting the research in ways that create myths and misconceptions has been referred to as woozling. This article describes how social science data can be woozled, illustrating this with examples related to parenting plans for children under the age of 5 whose parents have separated.     

Does Joint Physical Custody “Cause” Children’s Better Outcomes?

ABSTRACT

Policymakers and researchers are concerned with whether joint physical custody (JPC) produces better outcomes for children than sole custody. Although several review articles summarizing up to 61 empirical articles demonstrate very positive answers, many of the research designs used compromise the ability to claim that it is JPC per se—and not selection effects—that causes the effect. We discuss several research design issues, such as propensity score analysis, that can more powerfully probe the question of causality. Some studies have already been conducted employing these strategies and more are recommended and likely to soon be forthcoming. On the basis of this comprehensive review we conclude that JPC probably does cause benefits to children on average, and that social scientists can now provisionally recommend rebuttably presumptive JPC to policymakers.     

The Stability of Child Physical Placements Following Divorce: Descriptive Evidence From Wisconsin

This study uses administrative data from the Wisconsin Court Record Database, linked with survey data collected from mothers (n= 789) and fathers (n= 690), to describe the living arrangements of children with sole mother and shared child physical placement following parental divorce. Contrary to prior research, results provide little evidence that children with shared placement progressively spend less time in their father’s care. We find that, over (approximately) 3 years following a divorce, their living arrangements are as stable as those of children with sole mother placement or more so. To the extent that shared physical placement is associated with increased father involvement and positive developmental outcomes, recent increases in shared physical custody following divorce may benefit children.     

Shared Parenting After Parental Separation: The Views of 12 Experts

ABSTRACT

This article summarizes panel discussions that took place at an international conference on shared parenting (SP) held in May 2017. The panelists were internationally recognized experts on the legal and psychological implications of custody arrangements and parenting plans. Seven broad themes dominated the discussions: whether or not there was persuasive evidence that SP provides real benefits to children whose parents separate; what specific factors make SP beneficial; what symbolic value SP might have; whether there should be a legal presumption in favor of SP, and if so, what factors should make for exceptions; whether high parental conflict, parents’ failure to agree on the parenting plan, or dynamics of parental alienation should preclude SP; and what should happen when a parent wants to relocate away from the other parent.     

Mental Health Risks to Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care

This paper describes mental health risks to the birth-to-three foster care population. The paper describes risks of a relational and contextual nature. Relational risk factors, which have been previously identified by foster care researchers and clinicians, include the following: 1. Poor attachment signaling by foster infants and toddlers; 2. Discomfort with infant and toddler dependency by some foster parents; and 3. Regulatory problems of foster infants and toddlers. Contextual risk factors include the following: 1. Lack of coordinated and coherent efforts to help foster infants and toddlers and; 2. Lack of support for the parent–child relationship during placement. A case example and discussion is offered to illustrate these risks.     

Parental Gatekeeping and Child Custody Evaluation: Part III: Protective Gatekeeping and the Overnights “Conundrum”

ABSTRACT

The concept of parental gatekeeping and the forensic evaluation model for child custody disputes is described and applied to the context of considering overnight care by fathers for infants and toddlers. The forensic model is briefly described: facilitative, restrictive, and protective gatekeeping. The gatekeeping continuum is described, ranging from extreme restrictive to very facilitative and inclusive. Gatekeeping is isomorphic with a common best interest statutory factor on support for the other parent–child relationships. The limited research on overnights and child outcomes is briefly reviewed and discussed in the context of attachment theory. The concept of social capital is introduced as an explanatory concept for research that shows the benefit of joint parental involvement and shared parenting, including overnight care by fathers. Attachment and social capital are presented as complementary, explanatory concepts for understanding the gatekeeping and overnights issues. The conservative school of thought on overnight care by fathers is discussed in terms of a justification analysis as part of the gatekeeping model. Mothers opposing overnights need to show with behavioral specificity how overnights would be harmful to the child and then how the father can still be afforded substantial involvement in the present and future.     

Children’s Relationships With Grandparents in Married and in Shared and Sole Physical Custody Families

ABSTRACT

Grandparents can be an important source of support for their grandchildren in the often difficult time during and after parents’ divorce or separation. Grandchild–grandparent relationships can be hampered or even totally lost when parents separate, however. What happens with grandparent relationships when parents break up is closely linked to postdivorce physical custody arrangements. This article focuses on the beneficial role that grandparent relationships can play after parents separate and examines how grandparent–grandchild relationships differ in shared and sole physical custody arrangements.     

Relocation,Parent Conflict,and Domestic Violence: Independent Risk Factors for Children of Divorce

SUMMARY

We performed several re-analyses of data presented in Braver, Ellman, and Fabricius (2003) to examine whether their findings that parental relocation after divorce was associated with negative long-term outcomes in their grown children could be due to pre-existing levels of parent conflict and domestic violence. Conflict and violence might have caused parents to relocate, and might have caused the negative outcomes. Evidence from analyses of covariance, controlling for levels of conflict and violence (as reported by the grown children), confirmed that relocation was associated with negative outcomes over and above the associations of conflict and violence with negative outcomes. These new findings support the original recommendation of Braver et al. that “courts should give greater weight to the child's separate interests in deciding such [relocation] cases” (p. 206). Additionally, there was little indication that moves reduced levels of conflict, but that finding is tentative.     

Sharing roles,sharing custody? Couples’ characteristics and children's living arrangements at separation

This article examines children's living arrangements when parents separate, during a period of rapid increase in shared physical custody in the 1990s. With prospective data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (N= 758 families) and a sample of families experiencing parental separation between successive survey cycles, we use multinomial logistic regression techniques to explore how characteristics of parents in intact families (mother's employment, income, and so on) influence physical custody outcomes at separation. Findings indicate that although the way couples share roles while living together has a strong influence on how they divide responsibilities when they separate, other factors also have important roles to play.     

Infants’ Use of Force to Defend Toys: The Origins of Instrumental Aggression

The two aims of the study were (a) to determine when infants begin to use force intentionally to defend objects to which they might have a claim and (b) to examine the relationship between toddlers’ instrumental use of force and their tendencies to make possession claims. Infants’ and toddlers’ reactions to peers’ attempts to take their toys were assessed in three independent data sets in which the same observational coding system had been used (N = 200). To ensure that infants’ use of force was goal‐directed and not a simple physical reaction, we recorded infants’ reactions when peers picked up toys that the focal infants had just put down, or were nearby or in the focal infants’ mothers’ laps. The use of force in response to peers’ taking over toys was evident before the first birthday, but more common thereafter, although only a minority of children in each sample used force. Analysis of a combined data set revealed that force was deployed more often by 2‐year‐olds than younger infants, and was significantly associated with verbal references to people’s possession of objects. These observations show that toddlers do deploy force intentionally to defend their possessions.     

Separate Mothering and Fathering: The Plurality of Parenting Within the Framework of Postdivorce Shared Parenting Norms

This article explores the components and the plurality of everyday parenting among separated mothers and fathers. Drawing on an online survey of 114 mothers and fathers, it presents a topological analysis of mothers’ and fathers’ childrearing activities and decision making; unilateral, parallel, and negotiated relationships; residence and contact; and legal orders. The findings revealed 5 mothering and fathering patterns: unilateral, traditional residential, and interchangeable mothering, and involved nonresidential and interchangeable fathering. They disclose the relational and gendered structures of motherhood and fatherhood practice and social representation that are shaping postseparation parenting within the legal framework of shared parenting.     

The Investigation Component in Forensic Mental Health Evaluations

Abstract

Part of the data gathering and analysis in any parenting time evaluation involves investigation into sources of information that provide a factual basis for measuring key factors. However, this investigative function of the child custody evaluator has not been systematically described. In this article, investigative data collection is discussed in terms of holding a discriminating and skeptical eye in reviewing sources of information. The need to conduct forensic “detective work” and factfinding is discussed. The importance of the investigative mindset for the evaluator is to increase the completeness and accuracy of measurement of key variables, which increases the validity and accuracy of predictions on child developmental outcomes for the court.     

Parenting Style,Child Emotion Regulation and Behavioral Problems: The Moderating Role of Cultural Values in Australia and Indonesia

Abstract

Research has shown that the congruence of parenting styles with cultural values, rather than parenting styles alone, impacts child adjustment. This study examined if parents’ cultural values moderate the relationships between parenting styles and child outcomes across both an individualist culture (Australia) and a collectivist culture (Indonesia). Three hundred and eighty-seven parents of 2–10-year-old children from both countries reported their parenting styles, the importance of the collectivistic values (security, conformity, and tradition), and their child's emotion regulation and behavioral problems. In both countries, authoritative parenting was associated with higher child emotion regulation and lower levels of behavioral problems, and authoritarian parenting was associated with lower child emotion regulation and higher levels of behavioral problems. Although cultural values did not moderate the relationship between authoritarian parenting and child adjustment, in both countries greater importance placed on tradition attenuated the positive effect of authoritative parenting on child outcomes.     

Exploring Three Functions in Child Custody Evaluation for the Relocation Case: Prediction,Investigation, and Making Recommendations for a Long-Distance Parenting Plan

SUMMARY

The psycho-legal dilemmas posed by child custody relocation cases are discussed in terms of the four decisional alternatives facing the court and evaluator. Different legal contexts for relocation are reviewed in terms of their implications for the custody evaluation. Complexities involved in the evaluator's function of making predictions for the court are presented. The need to conduct careful investigation on both risk and pragmatic factors is highlighted by case illustrations. The obstacles of crafting of long distance parenting plans that will be in the best interests of the child are presented as governed by the goal of harm mitigation.     

Parental Divorce,Residence Arrangements,and Contact Between Grandchildren and Grandparents

When parents divorce, grandparents can play a supportive role in the lives of their grandchildren, but a parental divorce may also put grandchild–grandparent ties under pressure. In this study the authors investigated how grandchildren of married and divorced parents differ in the frequency of face‐to‐face contacts with grandparents and how this is mediated by postdivorce residence arrangements. Based on the multi‐actor survey “Divorce in Flanders,” they used reports of contact provided by more than 1,000 grandchildren and compared them with more than 1,100 grandparent reports for validation. The results showed that grandchildren from divorced parents have fewer contacts with their grandparents than grandchildren whose parents are married but that it is the postdivorce residence arrangement of grandchildren that produces this result. When grandchildren live with their divorced father or in a shared residence arrangement, they even see paternal grandparents more often than grandchildren with married parents.     

Engaging with happy-sounding music promotes helping behavior in 18-month-olds

Engaging with music fosters prosocial responding in infants and toddlers. In this pilot study, we examined whether music that expresses contrasting emotions (happy vs. sad) was associated with toddlers’ helpfulness. Seventy-five 18-month-olds from Hong Kong China were randomly assigned to engage with music with an experimenter in one of two conditions: happy- or sad-sounding music. After the musical engagement task, toddlers from both conditions completed the same set of helping tasks. For instrumental (action-based) helping, toddlers were significantly more helpful after engaging with happy-sounding music than with sad-sounding music. Our initial findings suggest that cues linked to happy- and sad-sounding music influence toddlers’ prosocial responses.     

Decision-Making Criteria in Child Custody Disputes That Involve Requests for Overnight Visits with Infants and Toddlers: Derived from a Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

The court, child custody evaluators, and mediators are often faced with difficult decisions regarding how to best meet the needs of children from families who are involved in child custody disputes. In some cases, the court, child custody evaluators and mediators are asked to make decisions about parenting plans for infants and toddlers. When decision makers are faced with actual cases, they are likely to be assisted by lines of inquiry that help them gather the most relevant data to answer the question at hand. A review of the literature has led to the development of 13 criteria that decision makers can use to reach conclusions about whether overnight visits would be advisable with a given infant or toddler. The criteria are considered neutral and are not based on any bias or preconceived opinion about whether overnights with infants and toddlers are or are not advisable. Instead, the criteria proposed provide the decision-maker with an objective way of structuring their thinking about a particular case to insure that all pertinent information has been considered before reaching a conclusion about whether overnight visitation is in the best interest of a given child.