This article explores a scoping review of qualitative studies about children's experiences and feelings during times of parental separation. The purpose of the review was to explore children's feelings and attitudes about their parents' separation and how their voices are heard during times of parental separation. The scoping review examined 44…

As part of the largest, longest running prospective American study of same-sex parent families, the present investigation examined relationship dissolution in planned lesbian families. Data were collected from 40 separated couples and their 17-year-old adolescent offspring--19 girls and 21 boys. Nearly all breakups occurred before the former…

Relationships that have not been formalized by marriage but that function like marriage are increasingly common among couples. Many of these relationships involve children who are related to only one of the adults but who have established parent-child relationships with both adults. This raises questions about how best to preserve children's…

Second marriages are known to be more fragile than first marriages. To better understand the factors that contribute to this fragility, this qualitative study compared stepfamilies that stayed together with those that separated by collecting interview data from one adult in each of the former (n = 31) and latter (n = 26) stepfamilies. Data were…

Increasing numbers of children are being raised by grandparents (CRBG). Grandparents provide a familial connection to these children, yet they tend to experience stressors that limit their effective functioning as surrogate parents. The children also experience stress that attenuates psychosocial well-being. In this article, the phenomenon of CRBG…

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…

Addresses well-being of grandmothers raising grandchildren in coparenting and custodial households in a sample of African American, Latino, and White grandmothers. Results suggest that the cultural lens through which grandparenthood is viewed has a marked impact on the adaptation to custodial or coparenting family structures. (Contains 52…

Policies governing divorce and parenting, such as child support orders and enforcement, child custody regulations, and marital dissolution requirements, can have a large impact on the welfare of parents and children. Recent research has produced evidence on the responses of divorce rates to unilateral divorce laws and child support enforcement. In…

Reviews new findings on college students' perspectives on their living arrangements after their parents' divorces and their relations with their parents as a function of their living arrangements. Students endorsed living arrangements that gave them equal time with their fathers, they had better outcomes when they had such arrangements and when…

Investigates whether fatherhood, and specifically involvement with nonresident children, influence men's entrance into marital and cohabiting unions. Findings suggest that neither resident nor nonresident children affect men's chances of entering a new marriage, but nonresident children have a positive effect on cohabitation. (Contains 79…

Investigated frequency of contact between children and biological parents who were separated. Used data from 1981 national survey to examine effects of living arrangements and other family characteristics on cross-household ties between children and parents. Found frequent contact occurring for children who had recently lived with absent parent…

Examined whether legal ties between members in the nuclear family affect the father-child relationship after domestic breakup. Found no evidence that civil status could explain differences in the post-separation organization of parenting, but a sole legal custody arrangement from the child's birth may disfavor cohabiting fathers as future…

High divorce and remarriage rates affect parental roles and child development. This research shows half of the ex-spouses share the parental role when the custodial parent is remarried. The quality of the stepfamily environment is explored. Divorced parents must put aside negative emotions in the interest of the child. (VM)

Many states are adopting joint custody legislation to support continued relationships between children of parental divorce and both of their biological parents. This study examined the effects of joint versus maternal legal custody, whether or not the stepfather had biological children from a prior marriage, and the sex and age of an adolescent on…

Reports on a literature review of adolescent development, family relationships, and the impact of divorce on adolescents. Results reveal that adolescents experience divorce differently than younger children and that a positive parent-adolescent relationship can ameliorate a divorce's negative effects. Identifies major gaps in the literature,…