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.     

Relationship Churning and Parenting Stress Among Mothers and Fathers

Researchers have documented the consequences of relationship instability for parenting stress but have given little attention to within‐partner relationship instability. In this study, the authors used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,544) to estimate the association between within‐partner relationship instability (known as churning or on‐again/off‐again relationships) and parenting stress. First, they found that by the focal child's 5th birthday about 16% of biological parents experience churning. Second, compared to being stably together with or stably separated from the child's other parent, churning is associated with greater parenting stress for both mothers and fathers. Because parenting stress is the same or higher among churners compared to their counterparts who stably separate, this suggests that, more than a change in partner, relationship instability—whether within or across relationships—is tied to parenting stress.     

The Role of Value Priorities in Paternal and Maternal Involvement in Child Care

This study used the theory of human values to explore parents' involvement with their children. The relationships between maternal and paternal value priorities and various forms of involvement in child care were examined in a sample of 209 couples with 1 child between 6 and 36 months of age. As predicted, giving high priority to openness‐to‐change values (e.g., self‐direction, stimulation) and low priority to conservation values (e.g., tradition, conformity, security) is associated with more father involvement and less mother involvement. Moreover, and as predicted, the priority given by a spouse to achievement values is negatively related to this spouse's involvement in child care and positively related to the other spouse's involvement. Parents' sociodemographic characteristics partly mediate the associations between value priorities and involvement. The findings also indicate the importance of distinguishing different forms of involvement in child care.     

Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties

This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,098) to examine differences in the parenting practices of four types of resident fathers, defined by their biological relationship to a focal child and their marital status with regard to the focal child's mother. Regression results suggest that biological and social (i.e., stepfathers or mothers' cohabiting partners) fathers differ significantly, and in some unexpected ways, on most measures of parenting. However, a considerable portion of these differences can be explained by variation in the background characteristics of the individuals and families in each group. Additionally, difference-in-difference analyses reveal a stronger link between marriage and higher quality parenting practices among social fathers than among biological fathers.     

Health Limitations Among Mothers and Fathers: Implications for Parenting

Despite the good reasons in which poor health could impede parenting, relatively little research considers this possibility. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,376) and propensity score matching to examine the relationship between maternal and paternal health limitations—health conditions that limit the amount or type of work one can do—and mother‐ and father‐reported parenting stress, cooperation in parenting, and engagement with children. First, the authors find that mothers' and fathers' health limitations are associated with greater parenting stress. Second, they find evidence of spillover associations; when compared with their counterparts, parents with health limitations report that their child's other parent exhibits less cooperation. Third, they find that the associations between health and parenting are not moderated by parents' coresidential status. Taken together, these findings inform the stress process perspective and its implications for family life.     

Temperamental Vulnerability and Negative Parenting as Interacting Predictors of Child Adjustment

This study examines parenting by temperament interactions in predicting child adjustment. Participants included 40 first and second graders, their mothers, and teachers. Child report of maternal psychological control and hostility was assessed using the Child Puppet Interview. Mothers completed temperament scales from the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and teachers provided information on child adjustment. As expected, among children high in irritable distress, maternal psychological control was associated with internalizing problems and maternal hostility was associated with externalizing problems. Among children with poor effortful control, maternal hostility was associated with externalizing behavior. This study offers evidence that the effects of negative parenting are accentuated among children with temperamental vulnerabilities.     

Parenting Responses and Parenting Goals of Mothers and Fathers of Adolescents

We extended on previous work by examining the contextual nature of parenting goals in mothers and fathers of adolescents. We also examined dyadic parenting similarity in parenting responses and parenting goals. Participants were 285 primarily professional (48.6%), White (82.7%) parents of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years old (mothers n = 213, fathers n = 68, dyads n = 43). Results of a 2 × 2 × 6 MANCOVA indicated that parenting goals were influenced by characteristics of the situation but not by parent or adolescent gender. There was dyadic parenting similarity for parenting responses and dyadic similarity for parenting goals. The implications of these findings for parenting interventions and future parenting research using within family comparisons are discussed.     

Parenting Stress,Parental Reactions,and Externalizing Behavior From Ages 4 to 10

The association between parenting stress and child externalizing behavior, and the mediating role of parenting, has yielded inconsistent findings; however, the literature has typically been cross‐sectional or unidirectional. In the current study, the authors examined the longitudinal transactions among parenting stress, perceived negative parental reactions, and child externalizing at 4, 5, 7, and 10 years old. Models examining parent effects (parenting stress to child behavior), child effects (externalizing to parental reactions and stress), indirect effects of parental reactions, and the transactional associations among all variables were compared. The transactional model best fit the data, and longitudinal reciprocal effects emerged between parenting stress and externalizing behavior. The mediating role of parental reactions was not supported; however, indirect effects suggest that parenting stress both is affected by and affects parent and child behavior. The complex associations among parent and child variables indicate the importance of interventions to improve the parent–child relationship and reducing parenting stress.     

Alcohol,Child Maltreatment,and Parenting Stress in the Lives of Birth Mothers

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examines the potential relationship between parenting stress, child maltreatment, and alcoholism in a pilot data set. Twenty-four participants (six African-American, six European-American, six Mexican-American, and six Native-American) completed four questionnaires (Parenting Stress Index, Conflict Tactics Scale Parent-Child, Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, Chemical Dependency Assessment Profile [PSI, CTSPC, MAST, and CDAP]). Through principle component analyses and multiple regression analyses, it was suggested that self-perceived parenting strength or competence directly affect a parent's tactics to deal with parent-child conflicts. Results indicated that self-confidence as a competent parent was related to the frequency of using verbal degrading and physical punishment. Parents who reported that the child's temperament bothers them a lot were more likely to physically abuse the child. Though all the participants could be categorized as alcoholic by the MAST, parents' alcoholic abuse did not appear to elevate the severity of child maltreatment, as measured by the CTSPC.     

Social Fathers and Child Well‐Being

Many young children born to unwed parents currently live with their biological mothers and their mothers’ new partners (social fathers). This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Study (N = 1,350) to assess whether involvement by resident social fathers is as beneficial for child well‐being as involvement by resident biological fathers and whether the involvement of the child’s nonresident biological father alters the relationship between resident social father engagement and child outcomes. Results indicate that involvement by resident social fathers is as beneficial for child well‐being as involvement by resident biological fathers and that frequent contact with the child’s nonresident biological father does not diminish the positive association between residential social father involvement and child well‐being.     

Japanese Fathers of Preschoolers and Their Involvement in Child Care

We examine how relative resources, time availability, gender ideology, living arrangement, child‐care demand, and job satisfaction are associated with the levels of younger Japanese fathers’ involvement in child care for preschoolers. A theoretical model that includes these factors is tested using 1994 data collected from Japanese fathers and mothers with preschool children (N = 442 couples). We find that practical considerations such as fathers’ shorter work hours, mothers’ full‐time employment, fewer adults and more children in households, and younger ages of children are associated with higher levels of paternal involvement. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of attention to ways to encourage Japanese men's sharing of child‐care responsibilities with their wives.     

Duration of Leave and Resident Fathers' Involvement in Infant Care in Australia

This article uses time‐diary data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 2,157 weekday diaries; N = 2,110 weekend diaries) to examine differences in infants' time with a resident father at age 4–19 months according to fathers' duration of leave around the birth. Results showed that those infants whose fathers took 4 weeks' leave or longer spent no more time with their father than did infants whose fathers took a shorter leave or no leave. We observed a positive association between any leave and sole father care on weekend days but not weekdays. The findings suggest that moderate increases in leave duration may not promote greater father involvement in Australia.     

Parenting Stress in Employed and At-Home Mothers in Italy

In Italy, there has been strong cultural support for motherhood as the ideal female role. As increasing numbers of Italian mothers enter the workforce, little is known about the effects of maternal employment. An examination of parenting stress that included work status and Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) was conducted with 174 employed and at-home mothers in Italy. Higher TABP was associated with higher maternal stress in employed mothers and more stressful parent-child interactions for at-home mothers. The strength of the relationship between parenting stress and TABP varies by maternal work status and parenting stress domain. Considering these results, personality characteristics that are incongruent with feminine gender schema may be especially relevant to the prediction of parenting stress.     

Postdivorce Parent–Child Contact and Child Well‐being: The Importance of Predivorce Parental Involvement

Frequent parent–child contact after divorce is generally assumed to be in children's best interests, but findings are mixed. This study extends the small body of research about the conditions under which parent–child contact is more beneficial or less beneficial by examining the role of predivorce parental involvement. It is argued that the more a parent was involved in child rearing in the past, the more important postdivorce parent–child contact is for child well‐being. Data from the Netherlands (N = 3,694) show that when children live with the parent who was not the primary caretaker, child well‐being is lower. Similarly, the more the father used to be involved in child rearing, the more beneficial nonresident father–child contact is for children. These findings suggest that it is not so much the frequency of contact per se that matters for child well‐being but, rather, the extent to which postdivorce residence arrangements reflect predivorce parenting arrangements.     

Family Structure,Father Involvement,and Adolescent Behavioral Outcomes

Research has shown that living away from one's biological father is associated with a greater risk of adverse child and adolescent outcomes; yet, the role of the father‐child relationship in understanding this association has not been directly investigated. This study uses data on biological fathers’ relationships with their children from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 2,733) to assess whether father involvement mediates the relationship between family structure (i.e., father absence) and four measures of adolescent behavior. Differences in father involvement are shown to account for a sizeable fraction of the variance in outcomes by family structure. Father involvement does not affect boys and girls differently but is more beneficial when the father lives with the adolescent.     

Fatherhood: Comparison Between Divorced Custodial Fathers,Married Fathers,and Divorced Non-Custodial Fathers in Israel

Paternal involvement and acceptance were compared among 218 custodial fathers, 222 married fathers, and 105 divorced noncustodial fathers. Findings show that the custodial fathers were more involved with their children, coordinated less with their children’s mother, and viewed their children as more difficult than the other fathers. Two regression analyses were conducted. One revealed that greater paternal involvement was predicted by greater self-differentiation, greater sense of having received care from one’s own father, and a less avoidant caregiving disposition. The other showed that greater paternal acceptance was predicted by greater self-differentiation, greater sense of having received care from one’s own father, and a less anxious caregiving disposition. Finally, the findings show that coparenting, social support, and sense of the child as difficult moderated the associations between the fathers’ personal variables and their involvement, but not their acceptance.     

Parental Conflict and College Student Functioning: Impact of Child Involvement in Conflict

Parental conflict is associated with negative effects on children, and child feelings of involvement in conflict might exacerbate negative outcomes. Research has yet to explore the long-term impact of both parental conflict and caught feelings. In a sample of college students, linear regressions (N = 800) indicated that regardless of parent marital status, children’s feelings of involvement in parental conflict were important predictors of academic and psychological functioning, and in some cases mediated the relationship between conflict and adult child outcomes. Given that parental conflict is common, it appears important to minimize children’s involvement in conflict, as it can have lasting impacts.     

Parental Childrearing Attitudes as Correlates of Father Involvement During Infancy

Using daily diary data to document involvement with infants at 6 - 8 months of age (n = 142) and 6 months later (n = 95), we examined relations between reported childrearing attitudes and resident fathers' relative (as compared to mothers') involvement with children. Fathers' authoritarian views related negatively to their relative involvement on weekdays, and this relation held over time for caregiving and playing activities. Mothers' protective attitudes had concurrent negative associations with fathers' relative weekend involvement. Findings suggest that fathers' authoritarian and mothers' protective attitudes relate to how parenting responsibilities are shared within families and may be detrimental to how much fathers become, or choose to become, directly involved in the care of their infants in comparison to mothers.     

Parenting Strain Among Mexican‐Origin Mothers: Differences by Parental Legal Status and Neighborhood

Despite increasing recognition of the critical importance of legal status for understanding the well‐being of immigrants and their families, there has been scant research on this topic. Using Wave 1 of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (2000–2002) and the 2000 decennial census, the authors investigated how parenting strain among Mexican‐origin mothers varies by legal status and neighborhood context. They found significant differences in parenting strain by nativity and legal status, with undocumented mothers reporting the lowest level. Results from multilevel models with cross‐level interactions reveal that the influence of neighborhood immigrant concentration differs by legal status. Percent foreign born in the neighborhood is associated with reduced parenting strain for documented Mexican‐origin mothers, whereas it is associated with heightened parenting strain for undocumented Mexican‐origin mothers. The findings provide empirical support for the need to recognize legal status distinctions in studies of the well‐being of immigrants and their families.     

Commitments to Fathering and the Well‐Being and Social Participation of New,Disadvantaged Fathers

This study uses data on 2,494 new fathers from the Fragile Families Study to analyze why and how the arrival of a new child may influence fathers’ well‐being and social participation. Our regression results indicate that changes in commitments to fathering are positively associated with changes in well‐being, religious participation, and hours in paid labor. The one exception is that increases in fathers’ engagement activities with their new child are negatively associated with changes in their hours in paid labor. The findings suggest that increases in commitments to fathering after the arrival of a new child are generally beneficial for fathers. In addition, greater commitments to fathering seem likely to benefit mothers, children, and society at large.