Reconsidering the “Good Divorce”

Keywords

coparenting, divorce, divorce interventions, parent‐child relations

Abstract

This study attempted to assess the notion that a “good divorce” protects children from the potential negative consequences of marital dissolution. A cluster analysis of data on postdivorce parenting from 944 families resulted in three groups: cooperative coparenting, parallel parenting, and single parenting. Children in the cooperative coparenting (good divorce) cluster had the smallest number of behavior problems and the closest ties to their fathers. Nevertheless, children in this cluster did not score significantly better than other children on 10 additional outcomes. These findings provide only modest support for the good divorce hypothesis.

Original Publication Citation

Paul R. Amato, Jennifer Buher-Kane, and Spencer L. James. 2011. “Reconsidering the ‘Good Divorce’.” Family Relations 60(5): 511-524

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2011-11-02

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5467

Publisher

Family Relations

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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