• 134-01 - Divorced Mothers’ Co-parental Boundary Maintenance After Parents Re-partner
  Presented by: Richard Feistman, Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, Tyler Jamison
• 134-02 - Post-divorce Co-parenting: What is Working?
  Presented by: Marilyn Coleman, Lawrence Ganong, Tyler Jamison, Richard Feistman
• 134-03 - Implications for Children of Parenting by New Partners After Divorce
  Presented by: Jessica Dominguez, Edward Anderson, Shannon Greene

Abstracts

Divorced Mothers’ Co-parental Boundary Maintenance After Parents Re-partner

Presented by: Richard Feistman, Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, Tyler Jamison

The dynamics of post-divorce coparenting relationships are often altered when one or both parents repartner (Ganong & Coleman, 2004), and the majority of divorced parents rapidly remarry or cohabit with new partners, making boundary maintenance more challenging. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to examine the processes by which 28 divorced mothers maintain boundaries around coparental relationships after one or both coparents have repartnered. What mothers do to incorporate stepparents into childrearing activities and how and when they attempt to exclude stepparents depended on stepparents' perceived interest in the child, competence at parenting, and overall character.

Post-divorce Co-parenting: What is Working?

Presented by: Marilyn Coleman, Lawrence Ganong, Tyler Jamison, Richard Feistman

Maintaining a positive coparental relationship is one of the most important challenges facing post-divorce families (Miller, 2009). The purpose of this grounded theory study was to identify the strategies 42 post-divorce coparents used in developing and maintaining strong coparental bonds. We found five actions that that reduced conflict and made coparenting more satisfying: (1) Scheduling time flexibly with their children; (2) Accepting joint financial responsibility for children and choosing not to fight about money; (3) Engaging in civil communication; (4) Accepting new partners; and (5) Valuing the roles of both mothers and fathers in children's lives.

Implications for Children of Parenting by New Partners After Divorce

Presented by: Jessica Dominguez, Edward Anderson, Shannon Greene

Studies of new stepfamilies indicate that new stepparents do not have clear guidelines for how to actively engage with and parent their stepchildren With regard to the development of the stepparent-stepchild relationship prior to the legal remarriage, empirical studies are extremely limited. The purpose of this paper is to examine how children react to attempts by mother's new romantic partners to parenting the child using data from a longitudinal, multi-informant study of divorced mothers, their children, and their new partners. Further, we examine how involvement by new partners in parenting young children affects relationships within these new families.