The long-term effects of child custody disputes: a sample annotated bibliography

Kaplan, L., & Hennon, C. B. (2002).  Splitting custody of children between parents:  Its impact on siblings and the extended

     family.  Newsweek, 114, 131-144.

This article discusses how split custody affects sibling relationships.  Split custody is one parent’s having legal and physical custody of one or more children and the other parent’s having legal and physical custody of another child or children. The results of the research suggest that a potential advantage of split residence is that it is conducive to both parents remaining significantly involved in parenting all the children in the family. Such a situation appears to enhance the possibility of parents being able to co-operate in raising children after divorce. Co-operative parenting, thought to be important for children’s adjustment to divorce, has appeared to be more of a dream than a reality in families with sole residence… Citation Checker 

Billings, R. A., (2005). American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66, 131-140.  Divorce mediation and resolution of child

     custody disputes:   Long term effects. doi:10.1016/S0028-3932%2801%2900178-6

Separated parents randomly assigned to either mediation or traditional adversarial methods for resolving child custody disputes were surveyed nine years postsettlement. Noncustodial parents assigned to mediation reported more frequent current contact with their children and greater involvement in current decisions about them. Parents in the mediation group also reported more frequent communication about their children during the period since dispute resolution.... Citation Checker

Williams, D. A.  (1987).  Psychological effects of custody disputes on children in the United States and Canada. 

     Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 9, 399-418. doi:10.1016/S0028-3932%2801%2900178-6

         This study included "forty boys and girls, ages 8 to 12, in attendance at selected private secular and parochial schools in a large Southwestern metropolitan area participated, along with their middle to upper-class parents." The study compared adjustment of children in joint and sole physical custody, controlling for level of conflict between parents, to determine if parental conflict would be more detrimental to children in joint or sole custody.  The author summarized findings as follows: "Overall, no significant difference between joint and sole physical custody groups was found." Citation Checker

Fabricius, W.J., Breeden, C., Olkin, R., & Taube, D.  (2007).  Postdivorce living arrangements for children.   Journal of Family

     Psychology, 21, 195-205. doi: ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014695

           The authors tested a biopsychosocial model in which young adults' long-term relationships with fathers and ongoing distress surrounding their parents' divorces mediated the relationship between disrupted parenting (i.e., exposure to parent conflict before the divorce and up to 5 years after, and amount of time with father postdivorce) and indicators of their physical health. University students whose parents divorced before they were 16 (n = 266) participated. Findings supported the model. The more time children lived with their fathers after divorce, the better their current relationships were with their fathers, independent of parent conflict. The more parent conflict they experienced, the worse their relationships were with their fathers and the more distress they currently felt about their parents' divorce, independent of time with father. Poor father-child relationships and more distress in turn predicted poorer health status. Citation Checker

Just one more thing--remember to keep the entire bibliography in alphabetical order.  For example, the first  citation entry should be: Billings, followed by Fabricius, then Kaplan, and finally Williams.    If you have any questions, ask a librarian.

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