child’s best interests; co-parenting; co-parenting interventions; divorce; family process; high conflict co-parenting; parental separation; post-divorce co-parenting; Psychology (all); General Psychology
Abstract :
[en] [en] Objective: Our research aim is to enrich the conceptualization of high conflict post-divorce co-parenting by understanding the dynamic process involved.
Background: The studied phenomena were explored by linking previous scientific knowledge to practice.
Method: We cross-referenced the previous study results with the experiences reported by eight professionals and tried to answer the following research question: how professionals' experience and previous scientific knowledge contribute to a better understanding of HC post-divorce co-parenting? Individual face to face interviews were conducted and analyzed regarding the qualitative theoretical reasoning of thematic analysis.
Results: Analysis allowed us to highlight how four main axes are related to HC post-divorce co-parenting: (1) Parents for life, (2) Acting in the child's best interests, (3) Managing disagreements, and (4) Healing the separation.
Conclusion: Our findings capture high conflict post-divorce co-parenting as a multidimensional dynamic process. As such, dealing with co-parenting disagreements must be understood as a moment in a process that is influenced by, and influences, other dimensions.
Implications: Interventions must consider the four dimensions and their reciprocal interactions. The essential elements underlying parents' difficulties may reside at a multiplicity of levels: inter-relational, contextual, and intrapsychic. Each level contains key potential factors in understanding these families, and in formulating intervention guidelines.
Disciplines :
Treatment & clinical psychology
Author, co-author :
Stolnicu, Alexandra-Mihaela ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Education > Service de Psychologie clinique
De Mol, Jan; Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Hendrick, Stephan; Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium
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