The current study used an attachment framework to explore postrelationship rumination and adjustment. Young adults (N= 231) involved in a romantic relationship that (a) was of 3 months duration or longer and (b) ended in the last 12 months participated in the study. The study assessed rumination generally (brooding, regret, and reflection), and specifically concerning the ended relationship (relationship preoccupation and romantic regret). At the general level, brooding and regret were associated with more negative adjustment, whereas reflection was associated with more positive adjustment. At the relationship level, both relationship preoccupation and romantic regret were associated with more negative adjustment. Models tested indicated that rumination largely mediated the association between attachment anxiety and adjustment.

Fifty-eight dual-earner couples with young children (116 parents) completed interviews and self-report measures to evaluate shared parenting (SP), marital satisfaction, and division of child-care tasks. As expected, psychological and relational SP dimensions predicted marital satisfaction, parental competence, and closeness to their children, but division of child-care tasks did not. The findings were interpreted to highlight how family practitioners may educate and support stressed dual-earner couples regarding these relational aspects of shared parenting.

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Custody and access assessment is a complex, litigious, and ethically challenging area of clinical practice. Eighty-eight qualified psychologists completed an exploratory survey, the Best Interests of the Child Questionnaire (BICQ), by rating the importance of 60 specific criteria in three areas of assessment relevant to custody and access evaluations: (a) structural (relational assessment), (b) developmental (needs-of-the-child assessment), and (c) functional (abilities-of-the-parents assessment). The value of the BIC assessment model, developed through this study, is explored as a framework for advancing practice in custody and access assessment.