Associations between Parent and Child Reports Of Interparental Conflict/Violence And Child Difficulties in A Family Mediation Setting*

Abstract

We examined the association between parents’ (N = 52 mothers and 52 fathers) and children's (N = 27) reports of interparental conflict and child difficulties in a family mediation setting. Parents’ reports of conflict were moderately associated with children's reports of exposure to parental conflict, but only fathers’ reports of conflict were associated with children's reports of negative responses to parent conflict. While mothers and fathers agreed on their child's difficulties, only mothers’, not fathers’, report of child difficulties were moderately related to child reports of child difficulties. Mothers’ and fathers’ reports of conflict generally were not strongly associated with reports of child difficulties. In contrast to parent reports, children's reports of exposure to parents’ conflict were moderately and significantly related to self‐reported child difficulties and moderately related to parents’ reports of child academic difficulties. The magnitude of the association between the child's report of interparental conflict and self‐report of difficulties was stronger than the association between parent report of conflict and parent report of child difficulties, suggesting that parents may not fully understand their child's exposure to parent conflict/violence or the problems their child is experiencing. Family law stakeholders prioritize the creation of parenting arrangements that are in the best interest of the child; however, it is unclear how to gather information about the child and the child's perspective in order to inform such arrangements. The study results suggest that parents may not agree with each other or with the child about important family issues, such as parent conflict and child difficulties. For example, parents may not fully understand their child's exposure to parental conflict/violence when in the midst of custody negotiations. More research is needed to determine the best method for gathering information about the child during custody proceedings. In the meantime, it is important to gather information from multiple sources and to consider the agreement and differences across such sources of information.

The inclusion of children in divorce mediation: A continental ‘non‐directive’ approach

“…The essence of CIMC is a procedure based on direct consultation with real children and providing a safe and effective feedback loop toward parents. Information about the children's own experiences and emotions has a demonstrable impact on increasing the reflective capacity of parents as well as the quality and sustainability of mediation outcomes assessed from the perspective of children, parents, or the court system (Rudd, Holtzworth‐Munroe, et al, 2015; Rudd, Ogle, et al, 2015). In the Anglo‐Saxon world, a way of involving children in mediation with a more therapeutic focus (although it also recognizes the human rights dimension of participation) has become established.…”

A theory of children's decisional privacy

“…(a) A parental obligation to consult Disputes between parents about their children's upbringing are ripe to arise when the parental relationship breaks down. At this point, a patent conflict between children's rights and parents' rights and duties emerges, 193 and 'the concept of children's rights will probably have little influence over parents' plans for their own future lives'. 194 'Parental responsibility' is defined in the Children Act 1989 as 'all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property'.…”

Percepção sobre a mediação judicial familiar pelos pais em casos de disputa de guarda de filhos

“…Estudos sobre a relevância da mediação são entendidos como necessários para maiores avanços na compreensão de sua eficácia. Pesquisas empíricas sobre a temática, que analisam tanto os níveis de aceitação e as formas de compreensão dos envolvidos em mediações familiares, quanto a eficiência e eficácia do trabalho de mediar conflitos familiares, foram realizadas em países, como Portugal (Andrade & Bueno, 2013;Correia, 2011;Pratas, 2012), Brasil (Alves, Cúnico, Arpini, Smaniotto, & Bopp, 2014;Chrystêllo, 2014), Itália (Molgora, Ranieri, & Tamanza, 2014) e Estados Unidos da América (Rudd, Ogle, Hultzworth-Munroe, Applegate, & D'Onofrio, 2015b;Rudd et al, 2015a). No Brasil, no entanto, ainda são escassos os estudos empíricos sobre o tema.…”