scholarly journals Joint physical custody, parent–child relationships, and children’s psychosomatic problems

Author(s):  
Lara Augustijn

Abstract Aim The prevalence of psychosomatic complaints among children and adolescents appears to be increasing. At the same time, the numbers of joint physical custody families are rising across Western countries. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between post-separation care arrangements (joint physical custody vs. sole physical custody) and children’s risks of psychosomatic problems, while considering the potential mediating role of parent–child relationships. Subject and methods Based on data from the Family Models in Germany (FAMOD) study, stepwise linear regression models and seemingly unrelated regression models were estimated for a sample of 473 children aged seven to 14 living in either sole physical custody or joint physical custody families. Results Children in joint physical custody families reported significantly fewer psychosomatic problems than children in sole physical custody families. Furthermore, living in a joint physical custody arrangement was associated with better parent–child relationships, although only the mother–child relationship was significantly related to children’s psychosomatic complaints, and partially mediated the association between physical custody arrangements and children’s psychosomatic complaints. No corresponding association could be found with respect to the father–child relationship. Conclusion The risk of psychosomatic problems was distributed unequally among post-separation families, as children living in joint physical custody arrangements suffered from fewer psychosomatic problems than children living in sole physical custody arrangements. Because part of this association was explained by the quality of the mother–child relationship, children’s relationships with other family members appear to be important factors to consider when seeking to promote children’s health in post-separation care arrangements.

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3752-3772
Author(s):  
Kim Bastaits ◽  
Inge Pasteels

When thinking about custodial arrangements after a divorce, there has been a shift from sole custody (mainly by mothers) to joint physical custody after a divorce. In certain countries, joint physical custody has even become the primary, legal custodial arrangement. Joint physical custody, whether implemented in legislation or not, is believed to be in the best interests of the child, as children can shape a postdivorce relationship with both their mother and father. Nevertheless, many studies on joint physical custody focus only on child outcomes. This study aims to investigate (1) whether custodial arrangements matter in addition to the parental divorce for parent–child relationships and (2) whether joint physical custody provides a better framework for parent–child relationships than sole custody arrangements. The study adds to the existing literature by including both the mother–child relationship and the father–child relationship. Moreover, joint physical custody is not only compared to sole maternal custody, but also to sole paternal custody. Using a dyadic subsample of Belgian parents and children from the Divorce in Flanders data set ( N = 623), we compare two indicators of the parent–child relationship (parent–child communication and parenting) for children with married parents, with children in joint physical custody, sole maternal custody, and sole paternal custody. The results indicate that (1) the custodial arrangements after divorce affect parent–child relationships, in addition to the divorce, with regard to both open and problematic father–child communications and the support and control of children by mothers and fathers; and (2) joint physical custody, compared with sole custody (either by the mother or father), provides a better framework to shape a postdivorce parent–child relationship with both parents in terms of open communications and support.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
An Katrien Sodermans ◽  
Sofie Vanassche ◽  
Koen Matthijs

Sinds 2006 werd het verblijfsco‐ouderschap na scheiding als voorkeursregeling opgenomen in de Belgische wet.Buitenlands onderzoek toonde aan dat kinderen doorgaans een hoger welbevinden vertonen in verblijfsco‐ouderschap dan in een eenouderverblijf. Deze studie onderzocht de relatie tussen de verblijfsregeling van 707Vlaamse kinderen tussen 10 en 21 jaar oud en hun subjectief welbevinden. Daarbij werd ook de rol van drie ge‐zinskenmerken bestudeerd: ouderlijk conflict, de ouder‐kindrelatie en de aanwezigheid van stiefouders. De datavan het ‘Scheiding in Vlaanderen’ onderzoek werden gebruikt. Er waren geen verschillen in subjectief welbevin‐den naargelang de verblijfsregeling van kinderen, onder controle van socio‐economische en demografische ach‐tergrondkenmerken. Bovendien was er geen modererende invloed van de drie gezinskenmerken op de relatietussen verblijfsregeling en subjectief welbevinden. Verblijfsco‐ouderschap lijkt een betere relatie tussen het kinden beide ouders te faciliteren in vergelijking met een eenouderverblijf. In verblijfsco‐ouderschap is er gemiddeldgenomen iets meer ouderlijk conflict dan in een eenouderverblijf, maar dit blijft beperkt tot een niveau dat nietschadelijk is voor het welbevinden. Abstract : Since 2006, a legal recommendation for joint physical custody in included in the Belgian custody law.Earlier research showed that children in joint physical custody have in general better outcomes thanchildren in sole custody arrangements. This study examines the association between joint physicalcustody and adolescent wellbeing and whether this relationship is conditioned by the degree of pa‐rental conflict, the quality of the parent‐child relationship and the complexity of the family configura‐tion of mother and father. We use from the Divorce in Flanders survey, and we have information on707 children between 10 and 21 years old with divorced parents. Overall, the subjective wellbeing ofchildren in joint physical custody was similar to that of children in other custody arrangements. Wefound no support for moderating effects of parental conflict, quality of the relationship with motherand father, and the presence of a new partner in the parental households. Joint physical custodyseems to facilitate a better parent‐child relationship with both parents when compared to sole cus‐tody. In joint physical custody, parents have more occasional conflicts, but this is limited to a levelthat is not harmful for children.


1972 ◽  
Vol 121 (564) ◽  
pp. 525-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Robertson

A review of some of the literature concerned with the aetiology of homosexuality shows that certain variables, in particular those involving the relationship between the homosexual and his parents, differ between studies involving populations of neurotic homosexuals and those concerned with non-psychiatric populations. Investigators concerned with the former group (Bieber et al., 1962; O'Connor, 1964; West, 1955), have placed emphasis on the importance of the mother-child relationship, having found this to be abnormally intense in the case of many homosexuals. On the other hand, a well controlled study by Bene (1965), involving a non-psychiatric population of homosexuals, revealed no difference between her homosexual and heterosexual groups as regards maternal overprotection. Her findings caused her to place more emphasis on the father-child relationship.


2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051987015
Author(s):  
Zhaona Cai ◽  
Meifang Wang ◽  
Fang Wang

Based on the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM), this study examined the actor and partner effects of parental harsh discipline on the parent–child relationship in a sample of Chinese children. A total of 1,149 Chinese middle-school-aged children who were recruited to participate in this survey completed measures of their fathers’ and mothers’ psychological aggression (PA) and corporal punishment (CP) toward them and their affinitive and conflicting relationship with the father and mother. Results from the APIM analysis showed that both fathers’ and mothers’ harsh discipline were negatively associated with parent–child affinity and positively associated with parent–child conflict (βs < .33, ps < .001). Furthermore, results also showed that mothers’ CP was negatively related to father–child affinity (βs = −.10, ps < .01) and mothers’ CP and PA were positively related to father–child conflict (βs < .13, ps < .01), whereas fathers’ harsh discipline was not related to mother–child relationship (βs > .04, ps > .05). Findings indicated that a parent’s harsh discipline affected not only their own relationship with children but also their spouse’s relationship with children. Findings in the present study highlighted the importance of decreasing both fathers’ and mothers’ use of harsh discipline when conducting appropriate prevention intervention to improve the parent–child relationship, especially the father–child relationship.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 473
Author(s):  
Anders Hjern ◽  
Stine Kjaer Urhoj ◽  
Emma Fransson ◽  
Malin Bergström

This study investigated mental health in schoolchildren in different living arrangements after parental separation. The study population included 31,519 children from the Danish National Birth Cohort, followed-up at age 11 in 2010–2014. Child mental health was measured with a maternal report of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Associations between living arrangements and mental health were analyzed using logistic and linear regression models, taking into account early childhood indicators of the parents’ relations, income, education and psychiatric care. At age 11, children living in a nuclear family had the lowest rate of total SDQ score, 8.9%. Of the children who had experienced parental separation, children in joint physical custody had the lowest adjusted odds ratio (OR)1.25 (95%-CI 1.09–1.44), for a high SDQ score relative to children living in a nuclear family, with adjusted ORs of 1.63 (1.42–1.86) and OR 1.72 (1.52–1.95) for sole physical custody arrangements with and without a new partner. An analysis of change in SDQ scores between ages 7 and 11 in children showed a similar pattern. This study indicates that joint physical custody is associated with slightly more favorable mental health in schoolchildren after parental separation than sole physical custody arrangements.


10.18060/1881 ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Staci J. Jensen-Hart ◽  
Jeff Christensen ◽  
Lacey Dutka ◽  
J. Corey Leishman

Military families experience increased stress when facing issues of deployment, separation, and reunification. The increased stress impacts the parent-child relationship as well as child behavioral and emotional well-being. Although recognizing the resiliency of military families, research points to the need to monitor parental stress both pre- and post-deployment and highlights the inherent risks that separation and reunification pose for the parent-child relationship bond. This pilot study was designed to explore the effectiveness of the Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) Training Model as a proactive method of enhancing parent-child relationships, reducing parental stress, and preventing negative impact of military separations on children.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther S. Chang

The current study is based on the responses of 153 married Korean mothers accompanying their youth in the United States or in New Zealand while their spouses remained in Korea. Kirogi means “wild geese” in Korean and has come to refer to split-family transnational living for the sake of children’s education. Spillover, or a positive correlation, between indicators assessing marital and parent–child relationship quality was tested within the transnational family context. It was also hypothesized that mother–child relationship quality and youth’s educational progress would be positively and uniquely predictive of indicators of maternal well-being when compared with marital quality due to education-focused Confucian values among Koreans. Results indicated positive correlations between indicators of marital and parent–child relationship quality; and only measures of marital quality had unique associations with maternal well-being.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 519-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle R. Vantieghem ◽  
Laurel Gabard-Durnam ◽  
Bonnie Goff ◽  
Jessica Flannery ◽  
Kathryn L. Humphreys ◽  
...  

AbstractInstitutional caregiving is associated with significant deviations from species-expected caregiving, altering the normative sequence of attachment formation and placing children at risk for long-term emotional difficulties. However, little is known about factors that can promote resilience following early institutional caregiving. In the current study, we investigated how adaptations in affective processing (i.e., positive valence bias) and family-level protective factors (i.e., secure parent–child relationships) moderate risk for internalizing symptoms in previously institutionalized (PI) youth. Children and adolescents with and without a history of institutional care performed a laboratory-based affective processing task and self-reported measures of parent–child relationship security. PI youth were more likely than comparison youth to show positive valence biases when interpreting ambiguous facial expressions. Both positive valence bias and parent–child relationship security moderated the association between institutional care and parent-reported internalizing symptoms, such that greater positive valence bias and more secure parent–child relationships predicted fewer symptoms in PI youth. However, when both factors were tested concurrently, parent–child relationship security more strongly moderated the link between PI status and internalizing symptoms. These findings suggest that both individual-level adaptations in affective processing and family-level factors of secure parent–child relationships may ameliorate risk for internalizing psychopathology following early institutional caregiving.


1993 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 133-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER EADES ◽  
TAO LIN ◽  
XUEMIN LIN

Rooted trees abound in computing and it is often necessary to draw them for visualization and documentation purposes. In the classical convention for tree drawing, the tree is drawn in a “level” fashion, with nodes (represented by boxes) at depth k lying on a horizontal line at a distance of k units below the root. The parent — child relationships are represented by lines between the boxes. Several algorithms have been developed for constructing a compact layout of a tree in the classical convention. In this paper we investigate algorithms for drawing trees according to two new conventions. In the inclusion convention, nodes are represented by boxes, and the parent — child relationship is represented by inclusion of one box in another. The tip-over convention again represents nodes as boxes, and, like the classical convention, represents the parent — child relationship by lines between the boxes; however, we allow siblings to be arranged vertically rather than horizontally. For many of the cases which arise in visualization of trees (for example, binary trees with textual information at the leaves) we present polynomial time algorithms. However, the general problem of finding minimum size layouts for either of the new conventions is shown to be NP-hard.


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