Poster Session 4: Relationship Dissolution and Coparenting

Presenters: Megan Mikesell, Jonathon Beckmeyer, Jessica Troilo, Mindy Markham

Summary
Divorce education programs typically focus on helping divorcing parents establish cooperative coparenting relationships, with the expectation that it promotes resiliency. In the present study we tested if boundary ambiguity and non-coparenting communication, along with coparenting cooperation, were associated with two aspects of parenting resiliency (parenting stress and attentiveness) among a sample of 717 parents. Based on multiple regression analysis, mothers' parenting stress was associated with non-coparenting communication and boundary ambiguity, while parent attentiveness was associated with boundary ambiguity. Based on multiple regression analysis, fathers' parent stress was associated with boundary ambiguity, while parent attentiveness was associated with coparenting cooperation and boundary ambiguity. Therefore, divorce education programs may need to place a greater emphasis on reducing boundary ambiguity in order to promote parenting resiliency.

Objectives
-- To identify whether boundary ambiguity, non-parental communication, and cooperative communication have a significant relationship with parental resilience.
-- To identify the ways in which boundary ambiguity, non-parental communication, and cooperative communication differently impact parental resilience.
-- To identify whether the relationship between boundary ambiguity, non-parental communication, cooperative communication, and parental resilience differs for mothers as compared to fathers.

Subject Codes: coparenting, resilience
Population Codes: Family Life Education, divorced
Method and Approach Codes: quantitative methodology