Shared parenting

Abstract: An Exploratory Study* Brent A. McBride** and Thomas R. Rane The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of the parenting alliance, marital quality, and the amount of involvement fathers have in raising their young children. Subjects were 89 predominately White, twoparent families with preschool aged children. Self-report and interview data were collected to measure each parent's participation in three categories of parental involvement (interaction, accessibility, and responsibility), as well as perceptions of the parenting alliance and marital quality. Multiple regression procedures suggested that fathers' perceptions of spouses' confidence in their own parenting, as well as mother's emotional appraisal of their partners' parenting and their shared parenting philosophy were significant predictors of father involvement in child rearing activities. Results are discussed in terms of future research on paternal involvement, as well as for the development of intervention programs designed to facilitate increased levels of father involvement in child rearing. Key Words: child rearing, father involvement, parenting alliance. Interest in the roles played by fathers in raising their young children emerged as a hot topic during the mid-1980s, and continues to hold the interest of researchers, practitioners, and families alike as we pass through the 1990s. Evidence of this strong interest can be seen in the recent wave of books, special issues of scholarly journals, and magazine articles aimed at parents which are devoted to this topic (e.g., Families In Society, Jan. 1993; Griswold, 1993; Hawkins & Dollahite, 1997; Hood, 1993; Journal of Family Issues, Dec. 1993; Lamb, 1997; Snarey, 1993). Much of this work has focused specifically on father involvement in nurturing aspects of child rearing. Marsiglio (1995a) suggests that three factors have contributed to this increased interest in the role of fathers: (a) changes in the demographic profile of modern families; (b) increased maternal employment and its impact on the division of household labor; and (c) increased policy debates over the well-being of children. Paralleling this increased interest in the roles of fathers has been a shift in societal expectations for fatherhood. The question is no longer one of whether men are capable of providing effective parenting as women historically have done. There is ample evidence suggesting that men can have a positive impact on their children's development when actively engaged in direct child rearing activities (e.g., Almeida & Galambos, 1991; Lamb, 1997; Snarey, 1993; Starrels, 1994; Williams, Radin, & Allegro, 1992). With the potential ability of men to provide competent parenting no longer being the central question in this area, societal expectations have emerged which call for men to assume a more active role in raising their young children (Griswold, 1993; Knijn, in press; LaRossa, 1988; Marsiglio, 1995b; McBride & Mills, 1993; Pleck & Pleck, 1997). LaRossa and his colleagues (LaRossa, Gordon, Wilson, Bavian, & Jaret, 1991) suggest that "conventional wisdom has it that America is in the midst of an unprecedented revolution in men's paternal role expectations-that popular attitudes about what fathers can and should do are changing in ways not dreamed of before" (p. 994). Consistent with this shift in societal expectations for fatherhood, fathers are slowly beginning to increase the amount of time they spend caring for their children. For example, in a thorough analysis of previous time use studies, Pleck (1997) identifies measurable increases in fathers' involvement with their children over the last three decades. However, these increases are small, and fathers continue to spend significantly less time than mothers caring for children. This phenomenon then raises an interesting question: what factors are related to increased levels of paternal involvement exhibited by some fathers? …

Abstract: PART ONE: BACKGROUND Introduction Academic Discourses Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Fatherhood PART TWO: MEANING-MAKING Diversity of Styles in Sharing Parenting Diversity of Paths What Influenced Men and Women To Move toward Shared Parenting Guiding Light Foundations for Sharing Parenting Tag-Team Parenting and the Mechanisms of Sharing Parenting The Dance of Father Involvement Men's and Women's Connected Experiences Sharing Parenting and the Reciprocal Revisioning of Both Fatherhood and Motherhood PART THREE: RELEXIVE COMMENTARY Reshaping Parenthood Possibilities to Inform Alternative Discourse Revisioning Dominant Discourses and Final Reflections Implications of Taking a Different View

Abstract: Joint physical custody (JPC), a parental care arrangement in which a child lives with each parent for at least 25-50% of the time after separation or divorce, is increasingly common in many Western societies. This is a major shift from the standard of sole physical custody, with mostly mothers providing primary childcare after a parental separation or divorce. The increasing share of separated or divorced parents who practice JPC, which in some countries, US states, and regions reaches 30% and more, results from increasing gender equality due to mothers participating considerably in the labor force and fathers being actively involved in their children's daily lives. This review focuses on the effects of JPC on children's and parents' well-being, based on 40 studies from North America, Australia, and Europe published between 2007 and 2018. In sum, there is empirical evidence from different countries that suggests that JPC arrangements can have positive effects on the well-being of children and of parents. However, the existing studies are conceptually, methodologically, and contextually very heterogeneous. In addition, self-selected highly educated parents with a high socio-economic status, a low conflict level, and children between the ages of 6-15 practicing JPC dominate the samples. Thus, the risks and benefits of JPC are not clear yet and are heavily debated by advocates and academics. The review concludes with suggestions for future research.

Abstract: Childcare Task Division and Shared Parenting Attitudes in Dual-Earner Families With Young Children* 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. Understanding how working mothers and fathers share in the parenting of their children is important because the intense demands of juggling paid work and family responsibilities place dual-earner couples at risk for parenting role conflicts and stress. Certainly, parenting role stress has been found to impact negatively on psychological well-being and marital quality (e.g., Lavee, Sharlin, & Katz, 1996). Not surprisingly, an increasing number of working parents are seeking professional help to cope with the stress and role strains associated with their demanding lifestyles (Sperry, 1993). These findings suggest that it is important to identify elements within the family system that may reduce the amount of stress on working parents and exert a beneficial influence on the psychological well-being of dual-earner families. The division of child-care tasks is one important element of the working family system that has already received considerable attention from researchers and practitioners (for review, see Crouter & Manke, 1997). Nonetheless, a model that would incorporate the more psychological and relational dynamics involved in cooperating and sharing parenting responsibilities has not yet emerged from the dual-earner family literature and is the emphasis of our investigation. Developing a Psychological Model of Shared Parenting: Findings from Dual-Earner Family Studies According to Ehrensaft (1987), "shared parenting is a conscious decision to share both the daily tasks of raising the children and the economic support of the family" (p. 5). This definition of shared parenting stresses the importance of equality in the parents' division of family responsibilities. For inclusion in a pioneer study conducted by Ehrensaft, both parents had to identify themselves as primary caregivers and to split the division of child-care tasks no less than 65% to 35%. Interestingly, Ehrensaft found that this definition of shared parenting described the parenting arrangements of only a very small proportion of the dual-earner family population. A similar definition of shared parenting was used in a study by Fish, New, and Van Cleave (1992). They identified couples who reported sharing responsibilities at ratios between 40% and 60%. These couples were compared with more "traditional" families in which mothers took primary responsibility for raising the children and completed more than 60% of child-related work. Fish et al. found that although partners in the shared parenting group thought they equally shared child-care tasks, in actuality wives took significantly more responsibility than did their husbands. The results of Fish et al.'s study suggest that Ehrensaft's (1987) definition of shared parenting does not entirely capture how the responsibilities of parenting are typically shared by dual-earner couples. It may be that shared parenting in intact families relates more fundamentally to flexibility in completing parenting tasks, feeling supported as a parent, and sharing similar goals regarding the raising of children rather than actual division of child-care-related labor. Researchers attribute the considerable diversity in how couples manage parenting and household chores to factors such as individual perceptions of equitable division of family work, employment situations, and social norms (Crouter & Manke, 1997; Gilbert, 1994). …