Interparental conflict trajectories across various child residence arrangements when parents live apart.

Abstract

In Norway, as in most Western countries, a growing proportion of parents living apart choose shared residence for their children. The aim of this study was to investigate trajectories of five interparental conflict dimensions across four child residence arrangement groups (and three combination groups) to improve understanding of different conflict trajectories when parents live apart. We used data from the Dynamics of Family Conflict study. Families (N = 1136) were recruited from 37 family counseling centers across Norway. Parents answered questionnaires in three waves: Wave 1 (December 2017 through August 2019); Wave 2 (November 2019 through January 2021); and Wave 3 (April through May 2021). Mixed effects analyses indicated that (a) for all conflict dimensions, there was less conflict and more cooperation over time across all residence arrangements; (b) except for children's involvement in conflict, the conflict dimensions did not develop differently over time between residence arrangements; (c) families with arrangements in which one parent had minority time (1%-14% and 15%-34%) were more likely to report children being involved in their parents' arguments over time than the 35%-49% and 50/50 residence groups; (d) for families with high relational risk pattern, children's involvement in conflict did not decline in either a high (1-34%) or a low degree (35%-49%) of sharing; and (e) families with a violent risk pattern and low degree of sharing (1%-34%) had the steepest decrease in conflict frequency/intensity over time. Even with an average decrease in destructive conflict dimensions over time, the findings point to the need for providing support for parents with complex needs, particularly for parents with a high relational risk pattern.