Im März Heft von Journal of Family Psychology (Vol 16, No. 1.), herausgegeben von der American Psychological Association (APA), der größten Organisation (155.000 Mitglieder) amerikanischer Psychologen, erschien eine sehr detaillierte statistische Studie (Meta- Analysis von 33 Publikationen) über 1846 Kinder mit einem allein sorgeberechtigten Elternteil (weit überwiegend Mütter) und 814 Kinder, bei denen die Eltern gemeinsame rechtliche Sorge hatten, oder auch das in den USA schon weit verbreitete Modell (joint physical custody)praktizieren, bei dem die Kinder abwechselnd etwa gleich viel Zeit mit beiden Elternteilen verbringen. Einbezogen wurden auch 251 intakte Familien. Kinder, die mit gemeinsamer Sorge der Eltern aufwachsen, haben günstigere Entwicklungschancen als die Kinder Alleinerziehender.
Zitat 1:
„Kinder, die mit gemeinsamer Sorge der Eltern erzogen wurden, haben weniger Verhaltens- und emotionale Probleme, verfügen über eine höheres Selbstwertgefühl, bessere Familienbeziehungen und erzielen bessere Schulergebnisse als die Kinder Alleinerziehender - gewöhnlich sind dies die sorgeberechtigten Mütter“.
Zitat 2:
“Kinder, die bei gemeinsamer Sorge der Eltern aufwuchsen haben weniger Ängste, weniger Depressionen, zeigen weniger Verhaltensauffälligkeiten, sind in der Schule erfolgreicher:
„Es ist sehr deutlich geworden“, sagt Robert Bausermann, Verhaltenforscher des Maryland Department of Health in Baltimore, der die Studie leitete, „daß Kinder, die mit gemeinsamer Sorge aufwachsen eine bessere Sozialisierung erfahren, als die Kinder Alleinerziehender“
Zitat 3:
„Bei Betrachtung der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zeigte sich, daß das Geschehen an Familiengerichten - so überhaupt - wenig, ansonsten keinerlei Basis in der Forschung findet.
Bausermann: „Es ist wirklich erstaunlich, daß nicht mehr erforscht wurde, was wirklich dem Kindeswohl förderlich ist und was gesetzlich und sozial zu empfehlen wäre“.
Wer sich dafür interessiert, dem sei empfohlen sich diesen Report im Original zu betrachten
Er könnte als ein Augenöffner dienen (in englischer Sprache):
http://www.apa.org/journals/fam/press_releases/march_2002/fam16191.html
http://www.apa.org/journals/fam/press_releases/march_2002/fam16191.pdf
An zwei Stellen verweisen die Autoren auf die bei ihrer Untersuchung gewonnene Erkenntnis, daß Vaterhaushalte für die Kinder genauso förderlich sind wie die Haushalte intakter Familien mit gemeinsamer Sorge, besser als eine Erziehung der Kinder bei alleinsorgeberechtigten Müttern.
(siehe Seit 97, Ergebnisse: Adjustment in Joint Paternal Custody)
Presseberichte
USA Today
24 March 2002
Study: Joint custody best for kids after divorce
By Karen S. Peterson, USA Today
Children in divorced families tend to do better in joint custody either
physical or legal than those who live and interact with just one parent,
says a major new study.
Children in joint-custody settings have fewer behavioral and emotional
problems, have higher self-esteem, better family relations and better
school performance than children in sole custody, usually with the mother,
says the report in the March issue of the Journal of Family Psychology,
published by the American Psychological Association.
That does not mean that those in sole custody are "clinically maladjusted
or need some kind of therapy," says researcher and psychologist Robert
Bauserman of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. "It just
means they don't do as well on average."
The newest findings are the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute over what is
the best arrangement for the children of divorce. This meta-analysis, or
scientific study of studies, comes down solidly in favor of both parents
sharing all aspects of a child's life, as long as both are capable parents.
The study defines joint custody as either physical custody, in which the
youngster spends time with each parent, or shared legal custody, in which
the child lives with one parent but both share decision-making and stay
involved. This keeps the father in the loop, which helps a child adjust to
parental divorce, experts say.
Bauserman examined 33 studies that looked at 1,846 sole-custody and 814
joint-custody children, as well as kids in 251 intact families.
He found that the bulk of the studies show that children in joint-custody
arrangements are virtually as well adjusted as those in the intact
families, "probably because joint custody provides the child with an
opportunity to have ongoing contact with both parents."
These findings contradict experts who believe that joint custody disrupts
the stability of a child's life, shifting back and forth between parents,
or that it exposes the child to two parents who endlessly bicker.
To the contrary, Bauserman speculates that parents who contain their anger
at the time of the divorce may self-select into joint custody.
They are quite capable of continuing to parent together without a lot of
rancor, Bauserman says. It is the sole-custody parents who report continued
high levels of conflict over parenting decisions with ex-partners.
Almost all states offer a joint-custody option, Bauserman says, although
many judges still favor maternal custody and oppose joint physical custody.
Alan Booth, a sociologist and researcher at Pennsylvania State University,
says Bauserman's research is solid. "This is very consistent with the
things we find. If couples are able to cooperate in joint custody, we would
expect the children to do better," Booth says.
Although joint custody may sound good, it does not automatically mean
parents won't be in continued conflict, warns Lynne Gold-Bikin, past
chairman of the American Bar Association Family Law section. "It is a
no-brainer" that children will do well if their parents both continue to
parent well after divorce, she says. But we are talking about parents who,
when married, "couldn't decide on the toothpaste. Why will they get along
now?"
============================================================
<
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/hsn/20020325/hl_hsn/joint_cu
stody_better_for_kids_of_divorce>
Yahoo! News
24 March 2002
Joint Custody Better for Kids of Divorce
By Adam Marcus, HealthScoutNews Reporter
SUNDAY, March 24 (HealthScoutNews) - More than two decades after the movie
"Kramer vs. Kramer" dramatized the traumas of a hostile divorce, a Maryland
researcher has found that children raised in joint-custody settings do
better than those in sole custody and almost as well as those from
two-parent homes.
Overall, children in joint arrangements tended to be better adjusted than
those in sole-custody situations, with less anxiety and depression, fewer
behavioral problems, and they fared better in school, the new study found.
"It's very clear that the joint-custody children show somewhat better
adjustment than the sole-custody children," says Robert Bauserman, a
behavioral scientist at the Maryland Department of Health in Baltimore who
conducted the study.
"That doesn't mean that sole-custody children are maladjusted. But if you
look at the overall pattern of results, kids [in joint-custody situations]
seem to be doing better in a large variety of areas," from self-esteem to
school performance, he adds.
Joint custody isn't a good option for every splintering family, especially
those in which a spouse is abusive, mentally ill or otherwise unstable,
according to experts.
However, in general, divorce courts and states that don't already do so
should consider joint arrangements as the default for custody, Bauserman
says.
Joint custody "is an idea whose time has come," adds Richard Warshak, a
well-known divorce expert in Dallas and author of Divorce Poison.
"The more we learn about how children experience their parents' divorce,
the more we find they can be shielded" from harm, as long as "the parents
behave like adults, and they don't expose their kids to all the conflict,"
he says.
Not only do children in joint custody report more satisfaction with the
setup than those in sole custody, Warshak says, but they stick to that
assessment as adults.
Almost 90 percent of Americans will marry at least once in their life, but
half of those unions will end in divorce, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau.
In his day job, Bauserman studies the social impact of AIDS. However, as a
child of divorced parents, he has long been interested in the impact of a
torn marriage on the children.
A review of the scientific literature told him that much of what happens in
divorce court has little, if any, basis in research.
"It's really surprising to me that there hasn't been more research done on
what's really beneficial for those kids, and what should be encouraged
legally and socially," says Bauserman, whose study appears in this month's
issue of the Journal of Family Psychology.
Bauserman analyzed 33 previous studies, of which 11 were published and 22
were unpublished (almost all doctoral dissertations), comparing outcomes of
children living in either joint- or sole-custody arrangements.
Joint custody can refer to physical timesharing, in which children split
residence between parents. It can also describe children who use one
parent's home as a base, but spend at least 25 percent of their time with
the other parent. Joint physical custody is less common than joint legal
custody, although both have become increasingly popular in recent years,
Bauserman says.
One of the factors at play here could be that joint-custody parents may
have better pre- and post-divorce relationships than those who opt for sole
custody. But Bauserman says that even after accounting for reported levels
of strife, joint custody still seemed easier for children to handle.
"You still find an advantage in the joint-custody children. When you have
ongoing positive contact with both parents, that's going to be beneficial
to the children," he says.
David Royko, director of marriage and family counseling for Cook County
Circuit Court in Chicago, agrees.
"I think a joint legal custody situation encourages and assumes cooperation
and communication between parents, which is critical to parenting, whether
you're married or divorced or separated," Royko says.
Children thrive when their parents communicate well. Yet, in divorces with
less-cordial splits, they often manipulate their parents to stimulate any
interaction at all - even if that means acting out to keep some ember of a
relationship glowing, he adds.
"They use conflicts just to keep [parents] communicating," Royko says.
Not all divorce experts agree that joint physical custody is a good
alternative.
"I think it's inappropriate to split a child down the middle like a piece
of property," says Alton Abramowitz, a Manhattan divorce lawyer and former
president of the New York State chapter of the American Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers. "Children need a home base. Children tend to thrive
better in a situation where they're not moving back and forth every week or
every month."
What To Do
To learn more about custody and its impact on children, check out the
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
[
http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/divorce.htm ] or Divorce Poison
[ http://www.warshak.com/ ].
For more on divorce and marriage in America, try the National Center for
Health Statistics
[ http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ ].
============================================================
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-03/apa-clt031902.php
Children likely to be better adjusted in joint vs sole custody
arrangements in most cases
Living situation not as influential as time spent with parent
WASHINGTON - Children from divorced families who either live with both
parents at different times or spend certain amounts of time with each
parent are better adjusted in most cases than children who live and
interact with just one parent, according to new research on custody
arrangements and children's adjustment.
Psychologist Robert Bauserman, Ph.D., of AIDS Administration/Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene in Baltimore, Maryland conducted a meta-analysis
of 33 studies between 1982 to 1999 that examined 1,846 sole-custody and 814
joint-custody children. The studies compared child adjustment in joint
physical or joint legal custody with sole-custody settings and 251 intact
families. Joint custody was defined as either physical custody - where a
child spends equal or substantial amounts of time with both parents or
shared legal custody - where a child lives with primarily one parent but
both parents are involved in all aspects of the child's life. This article
will appear in the March issue of the Journal of Family Psychology,
published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Children in joint custody arrangements had less behavior and emotional
problems, had higher self-esteem, better family relations and school
performance than children in sole custody arrangements. And these children
were as well-adjusted as intact family children on the same measures, said
Bauserman, "probably because joint custody provides the child with an
opportunity to have ongoing contact with both parents."
These findings indicate that children do not actually need to be in a joint
physical custody to show better adjustment but just need to spend
substantial time with both parents, especially with their fathers, said
Bauserman. Also, joint custody couples reported less conflict, possibly
because both parents could participate in their children's lives equally
and not spend the time arguing over childcare decisions. Unfortunately a
perception exists that joint custody is more harmful because it exposes
children to ongoing parental conflict. In fact, the studies in this review
found that sole-custody parents reported higher levels of conflict.
It is important to recognize that the results do not support joint custody
in all situations. When one parent is abusive or neglectful or has a
serious mental or physical health problem, sole-custody with the other
parent would clearly be preferable, said Bauserman. The judges, lawyers,
social workers, psychologists and other professionals involved in divorce
counseling and litigation should be aware of these findings to make
informed decisions of what environment is best for a child in a custody
situation.
Furthermore, to address the question of how much the parents' emotional
health compared with the custody arrangement influenced the children's
adjustment, Bauserman explained that custody arrangement seemed to have
more influence. By statistically controlling for past parental conflict
(which indicates parental maladjustment), the joint custody children still
were significantly better adjusted. This result was also found in other
studies cited in Bauserman's review. More primary research is needed, said
Bauserman, "on the past and current adjustment of joint custody and sole
custody parents before this question can be completely answered."
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