Fathers‘ involvement in nuclear and separated families: Implications for parenting arrangements

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Families have changed considerably over the past decades. While increased family instability has contributed to the rise of single mother families, changing gender roles and fathers’ increased involvement in parenting have changed post-separation parenting arrangements. In many countries, shared-time parenting is increasingly preferred by separated parents. This symposium aims to discuss its preconditions and implications for children’s well-being adding data from Germany and Australia to the discussion. The first paper focuses parents’ sensitivity and children’s attachment behavior to mother and father in nuclear families and provides a refined update to earlier findings on young children’s preferences for maternal care. Implications for shared parenting of infants and toddlers are discussed. The second paper uses data from a large-scale survey to investigate correlates of shared-time parenting and its links to children’s well-being in Germany. Taking background factors into account the findings allow to discuss the role of overnights and father-child contact arrangements for different groups of children. The third paper investigates the interplay of interparental acrimony and shared parenting focusing the role of parental pressure to side, a salient feature of coparenting problems. It also adds to available evidence by comparing maternal and paternal reports on child well-being. The fourth paper adds data from Australia where shared-time parenting is legally preferred, presenting further evidence on the role of interparental conflict in decision-making about post-separation parenting arrangements and focuses implications for children’s well-being. The findings will be discussed with the audience.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chairs

• Sabine Walper, German Youth Institute

• Heinz Kindler, German Youth Institute

Individual Presentations

• Still mother after all these years: Infants seek more proximity to mothers compared to fathers - Presenting Author: Peter F. Zimmermann, University of Wuppertal; Non-Presenting Author: Laura Mühling, Bergische Universität Wuppertal; Non-Presenting Author: Alexandra Iwanski, Bergische Universität Wuppertal

• Post-Separation Physical Custody Arrangements in Germany: Examining Sociodemographic Correlates, Family Dynamics and Child Adjustment - Presenting Author: Claudia Recksiedler, German Youth Insitute; Non-Presenting Author: Alexandra N. Langmeyer, German Youth Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Christine Entleitner-Phelps, German Youth Institute

• Children’s Well-Being in Post-Separation Shared-Time Parenting: the Moderating Role of Parental Pressure to Side - Presenting Author: Sabine Walper, German Youth Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Stefanie Amberg, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich

• High-conflict shared-time parenting after separation: Insights from Australia - Presenting Author: Bruce Smyth, Australian National University