Journal Article

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

Poortman, Anne‐Rigt

2018

Overview

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.

• Publisher: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc,Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subject: Adolescents / Best interests / Caretakers / Child care / child well‐being / Childrearing practices / Children / Divorce / Fathers / Parent Child Relationship / parent involvement / Parent Participation / Parent-child relations / parents / Parents & parenting / Residence / Well being