Perspectives of mothers, fathers, and parenting coordinators concerning the process and impact of parenting coordination

• Published in: Family court review Vol. 58; no. 1; pp. 211 - 226
• Main Authors: McHale, James P., Carter, Debra K., Miller, Marthanne, Fieldstone, Linda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Acrimony; CHILDREN; Coparenting; Evaluation; Interviews; Joint custody of children; Mothers; Parent and child; Parenting; Parenting Coordination; PROBLEM SOLVING; Problem solving in children; Triangulation
• ISSN: 1531-2445; 1744-1617
• DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12462

In a small pilot study, 31 interviewees, including 12 parenting coordinators, 11 mothers, and 8 fathers representing 14 different parenting coordination cases retrospectively described child and family functioning both pre- and post-parenting coordination in phone interviews. They also detailed how often and how well different issues that arose during the parenting coordination work (acrimony, problem-solving communication, triangulation of the child into the conflict) were actively addressed. Parties tended to view coparenting more positively when reflecting on post- compared with pre-intervention, but reported less change in child adjustment. Discrepancy among same-case informant reports was common. Parenting coordinators (PCs) consistently rated their interventions as more frequent and successful than did parents. Mothers and fathers largely disagreed on interventions they experienced. While this small N pilot can offer no definitive conclusions, it underscores need for research and wisdom in including both parents' perspectives.