Objective
To examine the influence of positive parenting and parental conflict on the coparenting alliance.
Background
Research indicates that child and family outcomes after divorce are affected by the quality of the coparenting relationship between parents, with many divorce education programs focusing on coparenting as a core programmatic component. Less is known about how positive parenting and parental conflict affect the coparenting alliance.
Method
This study collected online survey data from a convenience sample of divorcing parents (N = 430). Participants completed measures of parenting, parental conflict, and coparenting alliance. Regression and simple slope analyses were performed with parental conflict and positive parenting as predictors of coparenting alliance.
Results
Positive parenting and parenting conflict both predicted the coparenting alliance. Low levels of conflict predicted high levels of coparenting when positive parenting was high and moderate; however, conflict did not predict alliance when positive parenting was low.
Conclusion
Parents who engaged in moderate to high positive parenting had the anticipated negative relationship between conflict and coparenting alliance, but this did not hold true for parents who engaged in below average positive parenting, suggesting that both parenting and conflict play a role in a resilient coparenting alliance.
Implications
Divorcing parents' parenting skills may be important to consider when deciding on prevention and intervention efforts aimed at supporting their coparenting alliance. Therefore, divorce education programs may benefit from incorporating content related to positive parenting and parents with weaker parenting practices may need different types of intervention.
Purpose À The current study was designed to examine how and why divorced parents use computers and the Internet for communication with their coparent and with their child(ren). Methodology/approach À The current study utilized the uses and gratification perspective. A subsample of 178 divorced parents with at least one child aged 25 or younger from a larger research project participated. Parents were recruited to participate in a 15-minute online survey through email listservs with a nationwide and demographically diverse reach. Findings À Analyses revealed that divorced parents are active users of technology, for communicating with their child(ren) as well as with the child(ren)'s other parent. In addition, parents were comfortable using the Internet and accessing online parenting information, citing few barriers to use.
Simulation-based communication training for the designated requester role in FDCs increased the knowledge and confidence of clinicians to raise the topic of donation.
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