Exploration of the influence of the coparenting relationship on post-divorce fatherhood and wellbeing

Abstract

Previous research has examined factors that influence fathers' involvement with their children following a divorce, but few have explored how these factors are related to one another. Key variables found to predict father involvement including divorce factors, influence of others, post-divorce adjustment, parenting factors, and the coparenting relationship were utilized for this study. The purpose of this investigation is to explore the correlational relationships among these key variables utilizing path analysis to examine multiple relationships among the key variables within the same model. Theoretical frameworks from family systems theory and role and findings from previous empirical literature were utilized in the formation of this model, which was explored using path analysis with a sample of 124 divorced fathers who had recently completed a coparenting education class. Key findings include direct effects between the influence of others, specifically the fathers' perception of their child's desire for the father to be in the child's life, and fathers' parental self-efficacy, value of father role, and self-esteem, and between legal process satisfaction and perceived stress. Indirect effects were found for the relationships between fathers' perception of their coparents' desire for the father to be in the child's life and value of father role and perceived stress through cooperative coparenting and coparenting efficacy respectively. Additionally, legal process satisfaction and pre-divorce conflict were found to have indirect effects on value of father role through cooperative coparenting. Implications for coparenting education, legal support, and clinical work with divorced fathers is discussed and directions for future research are presented.