Professional Documents
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174 PRUETT, WILLIAMS, INSABELLA, AND LITTLE
found a mediated effect of age through increased nonresi-
dential father involvement that also enhanced childrens
adaptive behaviors ( .15, p .05). These paths were
equivalent across both mothers and fathers reports.
As hypothesized, parents symptomatology was also an
important factor within the model. Greater symptomatology
for either parent was associated with negative changes in the
parentchild relationship ( .39, p .01). In addition,
mothers with more symptoms were less likely to use the
services of an attorney ( .23, p .01) and more likely
to perceive their spouses support or lack thereof as an
inuence on their parenting (Spouses Inuence on Parent-
ing) ( .27, p .01). Fathers psychological well-being
did not affect gatekeeping or the likelihood of attorney
involvement.
We had expected that after controlling for the childs age
and parental symptomatology, parental conict would be
predictive of less involvement of nonresidential fathers with
their children, gatekeeping, and negative changes in the
parentchild relationship. Across both mothers and fa-
thers groups, increased levels of parental conict predicted
less nonresidential father involvement ( .37, p .01).
Figure 1. Path relationships among family and legal context variables and child outcomes. Chi
square analysis revealed an excellent model t,
2
(98, N 42) 97.5, p .49. All beta weights
are signicant at the .01 level, with the exception of betas .18 and lower, which were signicant at
the .05 level. Correlations within the path model were signicant at the .01 level (.23) and at the
.05 level (.16). For mean differences listed, negative scores denote fathers reporting higher than
mothers on scale. Solid lines reect relations that were signicant and equivalent for both mothers
and fathers. Dotted lines depict paths that are signicant only for nonresidential fathers; dashed lines
represent signicant effects only for mothers. P-C parent child relationship; CBCL Child
Behavior Checklist.
175 SPECIAL ISSUE: YOUNG CHILDRENS ADJUSTMENT TO DIVORCE
Additionally, higher levels of parental conict predicted a
less positive view of spouse ( .24, p .01). Only by
fathers accounts did increased levels of parental conict
predict difculty between nonresidential fathers and their
children ( .43, p .01). Parental conict had no effect
on the motherchild relationship. As expected, higher levels
of marital conict also increased the likelihood of involving
an attorney in the divorce or custody proceedings ( .22,
p .01).
Neither parental conict nor parental symptomatology
directly predicted childrens behavior problems. For both
mothers and fathers, negative changes in the parentchild
relationship served as the best predictor of childrens prob-
lem behaviors, for both internalizing ( .22, p .01) and
externalizing ( .31, p .01) symptoms. For nonresi-
dential fathers, the discord and distance within the father
child relationship mediated the effect of parental conict on
childrens problem behaviors. Mothers reported fewer child
internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, or
somatic complaints, when attorneys were involved in their
legal case ( .17, p .05); however, this relationship
did not hold true for fathers.
Discussion
This research used structural equation methodology to
model possible relations among family and legal variables
and outcomes for young children of separating and divorc-
ing families. The proposed model yielded an excellent t to
the data and mostly cross-validated across mothers and
fathers, with a few notable exceptions (shown in Figure 1).
Overall, the models were far more similar than different,
indicating family processes that are descriptive from either
parents viewpoint. A primary objective of this study was to
test the hypothesis that after controlling for child age and
parental distress, parental conict would predict less father
involvement, stricter gatekeeping, and more negative
parentchild relationships. Negative changes in the parent
child relationship were expected to be predictive of child
behavioral problems, whereas parental involvement was
expected to be related to childrens adaptive skills. Also, we
predicted that maternal gatekeeping would be associated
with less father involvement. With regard to use of attor-
neys, we expected greater use among higher conict couples
and, in turn, more behavior problems among the children.
The outcomes of our nal model supported most of these
premises. First, parental conict was indirectly related to
child adjustment through parental involvement, the parent
child relationship, and attorney involvement.
In general, older children had more involved fathers,
which was predictive of better communication, socializa-
tion, and daily living skills. This link between father in-
volvement and childrens adaptive skills is consistent with
research on involved fathering in intact families (K. D.
Pruett, 2000). However, parental conict was an important
predictor of father involvement, such that higher conict
was associated with less paternal involvement. This nding
is in accord with previous research showing that in the face
of conict, fathers are more likely to withdraw from their
children than in situations of lower parental conict (Block,
Block, & Gjerde, 1986; P. A. Cowan & Cowan, 1987;
Howes & Markman, 1989). One pathway in the model
traces parental conict to lower father involvement, which
in turn was associated with lower overall adaptive function-
ing by the child. The long shadow of marital conict that
affects child development (Kline et al., 1991) is thus evident
in the postdivorce parental conict among these families
with young children. Parental conict predicts less father
involvement, ultimately affecting young childrens early
socialization and acquisition of necessary life skills. This
link is likely to be especially salient among families with
young children, where fathers own withdrawal in the face
of parental conict could get exacerbated by maternal in-
uences on fathers opportunities for regular contact with
their children and participation in child-rearing responsibil-
ities (Braver, Wolchik, Sandler, Fogas, & Svetina, 1991).
We theorized that more conict might lead mothers to bar
fathers from certain kinds of involvement with their chil-
dren, exercising their gatekeeping functions. Parental con-
ict also was inversely related to one of our three gatekeep-
ing factors: Positive View of Spouse. The more parents
fought, the less likely they were to experience an afnity for
their partner despite their shared child. This gatekeeping
factor seems to capture a positive identication process
through which spouses judge the support they received from
one another and extend their positive feelings about their
child to each other. This kind of connection underlies pos-
itive coparenting, as it helps parents look beyond their
conicts to the shared role and bond of having a child.
Conict undermines this aspect of positive family
connection.
Parental conict led to reports of negative changes in the
parentchild relationship, but for fathers only. This nding
is not consistent with some previous research comprised
largely of older children and focused on mothers decreased
warmth and parental authority (e.g., Kline et al., 1991; see
also Kelly, 2000) and may be a function of the very young
ages of the children. The relatively consistent proximity and
intimacy mothers reported to have with their children, and
the childrens neediness as commensurate with their devel-
opmental levels, may have buffered the motherchild rela-
tionships, at this point in time, early in the divorcing pro-
cess. However, the nding is consistent with research
indicating that fathers withdraw more from their children
under conditions of higher conict (see Kelly, 2000). One
aspect of this parentchild measure is a question about
perceived distance between parent and child since separa-
tion. That aspect may be tapping into similar constructs
explored in other research.
Negative changes in both the motherchild and father
child relationships were predictive of greater internalizing
and externalizing problems in young children, a common
nding in studies with older children (Roseby & Johnston,
1998; Tschann et al., 1990; see also Kellys, 1998,
discussion).
Whereas parental conict negatively impacted the father
child relationship, maternal psychological symptomatology
was the best predictor of negative changes in the mother
176 PRUETT, WILLIAMS, INSABELLA, AND LITTLE
child relationship after separation. These parents reported
greater difculty in being consistent with their childs de-
mands, maintaining consistent routines, being patient with
their child, and making time to play with their child. Hence,
it was not the coparenting, but rather mothers own internal
well-being that most powerfully affected their parenting
capacities.
In addition, mothers with greater symptomatology were
more likely to endorse the gatekeeping factor measuring
their spouses inuence on their parenting, both during the
marriage and in its aftermath. This nding could stem from
these more vulnerable mothers perceptions that their hus-
bands had more inuence over their parenting. Alterna-
tively, it could suggest an actual behavior in which fathers
extend more support and assert more inuence on their
spouses parenting in the marriage when they perceive the
mothers as less able to parent in a healthy way on their own.
Either way, the difculty that less psychologically healthy
mothers have in parenting their young children is mani-
fested in reliance on the ex-spouses support and views. For
mothers and fathers, parental symptomatology indirectly
inuenced child behavioral outcomes through the negative
changes in the parentchild relationship. This nding is
consistent with research which shows that parental distress
and vulnerability may lead to diminished parenting capabil-
ities, which in turn is associated with poorer child outcomes
(Clarke-Stewart & Hayward, 1996; Pett, Wampold, Turner
& Vaughan-Cole, 1999; Tschann et al., 1990).
Operationalizing the Gatekeeping Construct
The hypothesis pertaining to gatekeeping was not borne
out in the model. Factor analysis of the gatekeeping measure
designed for this study revealed three distinct subcompo-
nents: Enhancing Spouses Parenting, Positive View of
Spouse, and Spouses Inuence on Parenting. Allen and
Hawkins (1999) discussed three conceptual dimensions of
gatekeeping: maternal identity conrmation, differentiated
family roles, and standards and responsibility, which they
acknowledge are derived from research on intact relation-
ships. Like the latter dimension, the concepts we targeted
also were focused on parental, especially maternal, attitudes
(see also Beitel & Parke, 1998), but they differ in important
ways. We were focused on the dimensions of gatekeeping
pertaining specically to the dynamics between separating
spouses that might lead to more liberal or stricter gatekeep-
ing. We focused on the balance between negative views of
the parent as partner and the potential for maintaining a
positive view of the partner as parent to a shared child. We
found that Enhancing Spouses Parenting, or belief in the
importance of fostering the other parents relationship with
the child, did not contribute signicantly to the overall
model. Parental conict and maternal psychological symp-
tomatology predicted less Positive View of Spouse and
greater Spouses Inuence on Parenting, respectively. Yet
these factors did not prove to be related to child outcomes.
It is not surprising that the connections between parental
conict, maternal symptomatology, and gatekeeping factors
do not extend to child outcomes. Until we conduct further
research with these new gatekeeping factors, we cannot
ascertain how the presence of these factors affects child
outcomes and under what conditions. Moreover, none of the
factors was simply correlated with father involvement
within the path model. Thus, it remains for further analyses
to better understand how gatekeeping operates in this sam-
ple and in what ways the family dynamics tapped herein
play out during the separation and divorce process.
Attorney Involvement
Unexpectedly, maternal psychological symptomatology
had indirect effects on child behavioral outcomes when
mothers used an attorney in their divorce. Mothers with
more psychological symptoms were less likely to have hired
an attorney, which predicted greater internalizing problems
in their children. More healthy mothers may have utilized
attorney expertise to foster protective actions regarding their
children, helping to organize and contain the mothers stress
related to the divorce and/or separation. In contrast, the less
healthy mothers may have taken the divorce process upon
themselves and, hence, upon their children. This nding
held true when socioeconomic status was controlled, indi-
cating that the choice of using an attorney was not solely an
economic decision. These results have important implica-
tions for the role of attorneys in a collaborative divorce
model. Many divorcing parents determine their interests and
the interests of their children with the aid of legal counsel.
This research suggests that when mothers who experience
increased psychological vulnerability work with an attorney
during the divorce process, the attorney may help absorb
some of the negative effects of that vulnerability on child
functioning, especially as the parents stress increases dur-
ing the legal process.
This model demonstrates how marital conict affects
young child outcomes in families with low to moderate
conict. In addition, it implicates gatekeeping as part of the
family dynamic in divorce that also contains changes in
father involvement and parentchild relationships. How-
ever, data are only the rst step in a series needed to better
understand the dynamics of families with young children in
the legal system.
Implications for Application and Public Policy
These ndings lend impetus for movements to improve
clinical and psycholegal practice and create social changes
in areas of divorce. The results provide information about a
relatively unknown population of special importance in the
eld of public health and policyour countrys youngest
children. Given the common experience of parental separa-
tion before marriage or after divorce, these young children
will live much of their early life in the shadows of their
parents conict, separations, and coparenting. Understand-
ing which family dynamics inuence their positive adapta-
tion will assist in the development of support programs and
interventions.
With these data, we are beginning to look at processes of
psychology and law as they are intertwined during divorce,
177 SPECIAL ISSUE: YOUNG CHILDRENS ADJUSTMENT TO DIVORCE
rather than just existing in tandem. How the introduction of
an attorney into the process impacts psychological and legal
outcomes has important implications for the ways in which
people choose to conduct their legal process. Increasing
awareness of potential avenues for inuencing the legal
system is important to families, mental health professionals,
legal professionals, and the public policy leaders who have
been calling for change in the current system on the basis of
individual anecdotes and collective knowledge and experi-
ence (Pruett & Jackson, 1999), but without empirical back-
ing. Empirical backing provides the basis for legislative and
social change.
We stand ready to examine how the dynamics eluci-
dated in this study change over time, especially in light of
an intervention implemented through the legal system.
This study presented baseline data from longitudinal re-
search that included a collaborative divorce intervention
and a model of family dynamics prior to the intervention.
Future analyses from these data will focus on how the
collaborative intervention alters family dynamics to af-
fect child and legal outcomes. Indeed, one of the limita-
tions of the present study is that bidirectional relation-
ships between the variables could not be assessed at this
point given that only baseline data were analyzed. We did
test for different models and these pathways were the
only ones borne out by this structural equation model.
The model will be tested with the same sample in the
future to see whether and how pathways change for the
6-month and 15-month follow-up periods. The interven-
tion will attempt to change the institutional context in
which divorce occurs and to examine the impact such
changes have on child and family well-being. In so doing,
it will help inform policymakers interested in judicial
reform about the types of substantive change that are
possible and effective within the legal system.
In addition to child outcomes, more attention will be
given to legal outcomes. Because only cases where the
father was the nonresidential parent were analyzed in order
to assess maternal gatekeeping, legal outcomes such as
custody designations (i.e. joint legal, joint physical vs. joint
legal, sole physical custody) were not included in the model.
In the next iteration of these data, data from attorneys
regarding legal costs, length of divorce, and utilization of
court services will be included.
Tests of the model for different age groups and each
gender will also be considered in forthcoming models.
Within the age group sampled in the current study, it is
possible that various aspects of the family dynamics may
interrelate differently or predict different child outcomes for
younger children in comparison with older children.
Clearly, this study represents a tip of the iceberg. In future
models we hope to examine the impact of frequent over-
nights and frequent court visits. Step-by-step we begin to
shed light on the black hole of young childrens adaptation
to parental separation and divorce and on the legal processes
that support or hinder parents in their efforts to steer their
children through this early life transition.
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Received December 21, 2001
Revision received May 23, 2002
Accepted June 7, 2002
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