About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

14 J. Child Custody 1 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/wjcc14 and id is 1 raw text is: JOURNAL OF CHILD CUSTODY 2017, VOL. 14, NO. 1, 1-10 Routledge http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2017.1312658 Taylor&FrancisGroup ARTICLES Parent-child gender matching and child psychological adjustment after divorce Jan Fausta, Clara Ko, Anita Alexandera, and Susan F. Greenhawtb 'College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; bFlorida Circuit Courts, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA ABSTRACT KEYWORDS The present study aimed to determine whether a parent-child Child behavior; externalizing gender match would influence child psychological adjustment behavior; internalizing after divorce. Participants included 69 parents (36 mothers) in behavior; litigation; parental active family law litigation to resolve issues related to post- separation; parenting plans; dissolution of marriage or time-sharing matters. Participants time-sharing provided demographic information and completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991) to assess their perceptions of their child's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Results demonstrated that internalizing and externalizing behaviors were not affected by whether children spent more time with the same gender parent, opposite gender parent, or split their time equally between both. Comparisons and contradictions between the results in this study and existing research are discussed, as well as practical implications. The literature suggests that the courts have historically preferred a parent-child gender match when making parent time-sharing and access determinations. Fox and Kelly (1995) observed in their study that the odds of father custody were decreased when the oldest child was a girl. Alternatively, the odds of father cus- tody were increased when the oldest child was a boy. Interestingly, the authors observed that the gender match relationship appears only when the focus of study is on the oldest child, and that the effect disappears for the youngest child. While this effect was not large, it was significant and indicates that gender influences the custodial decision process. Furthermore, Lamb (1986) provided support that gen- der is an important influence in parent-child interactions. Prior to the precedent of courts granting more maternal custody than paternal custody, the courts often awarded custody of male children to their fathers (Kelly, 1994). This may be because the literature often demonstrates that fathers spend more time with and feel more comfortable with male children than female children (Fox & Kelly, 1995). Additionally, proponents of the gender match argument assert that a parent-child gender match exposes children to an example of how to become male or female and that those living with the opposite gender parent have less opportunity to identify with the same gender parent (Powell & Downey, 1997). CONTACT Jan Faust jfaust@nova.edu College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314. 0 2017 Taylor & Francis

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most