More than half of all marriages end in divorce, and the majority of these involve children, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Conflict between parents, before and after divorce, is associated with feelings of anger, helplessness, loneliness and guilt in children. Now, an online program created by University of Missouri researchers is teaching separated parents to maintain and nurture relationships with their children.
“There is a great need for effective online programs to support and educate separated parents,” said Larry Ganong, co-chair of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) in the College of Human …

New research is challenging the notion that parents who divorce necessarily exhibit a diminished capacity to parent in the period following divorce. A large, longitudinal study conducted by University of Alberta sociology professor Lisa Strohschein has found that divorce does not change parenting behavior, and that there are actually more similarities than differences in parenting between recently divorced and married parents.
The study used data from the 1994 and 1996 cycles of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NSLCY) to compare changes in parenting practices between 208 households that divorced between the first and …

The traditional nuclear family is irretrievably breaking down as children are increasingly raised by relations other than their parents, the head of a Government-funded parenting group says.
The Family and Parenting Institute says grandparents, aunts and uncles are helping out more in childcare responsibilities in a form of ‘communal parenting’ as parents struggle to cope with marital breakdown and work. One in four children is now brought up in a one-parent household, the vast majority of which are led by mothers.
The Institute suggests that rising divorce rates, fewer marriages and the growth of civil partnerships mean …

Diane Sollee, SmartMarriages.com
Tango June 2007
Questions:
1) The number one predictor of divorce is:
a) Ongoing disagreement over money and financial issues.
b) The habitual avoidance of conflict.
c) Yelling and screaming during fights.
2) Couples that “go the distance”—whose marriages are successful—have fewer disagreements about the three core issues: sex, money, and housework.
True or False?
3) Couples that are constantly yelling or complaining are doomed.
True or false?
4) When discussing a problem or disagreement, it is important to:
a) Keep feelings out of the discussion, and try to stick to the facts.
b) Be sure you can accurately state your partner’s position, including his …

For military children of divorce, www.thefamilytree.org can be a great source. 
When we think of those who serve our country, we picture episodes of bravery and sacrifice, punctuated by emotional experiences of separation from home and loved ones.
For those fortunate enough to return home, we imagine the joy of homecoming, of reuniting with their spouses, children, parents, and friends of concluding their service and sacrifice. This is often where our images stop - families happy to be reunited - but for many it is the beginning of a different kind of suffering.
Despite the valuable skills many …

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Marriage is a wonderful state.  It can bring a sense a fulfillment, belonging, love and intimacy when both people enjoy their life together. Adding children can fully complete the picture. However, so many marriages exist with disharmony, disappointment, distress and tension.  The additional stressors involved with parenting can tip a marriage into the danger zone.  Marital difficulties and custody problems, as painful and emotionally wrenching as they sometimes are, can certainly be more easily handled when both partners live in the same home or nearby.  But what if one person is in the military, deployed overseas for months …

Study Finds Divorced and Widowed Adults Have 20 Percent More Chronic Conditions than Married People
(CBS) Can divorce make you sick?
Yes, according to a new study that finds divorce and widowhood have a lingering, detrimental impact on health — even after remarriage.
The study, scheduled to be published in the September issue of the Journalof Health and Social Behavior, analyzes data from nearly 9,000 adults nationwide, ages 51 to 61, and finds those who had been divorced or widowed suffered 20 percent more chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer, than individuals who were …

Co-parenting may not come naturally to you, particularly if you’re a high-conflict couple or you’re still recovering from the nastiness of a divorce. Divorced parents need to make a concerted effort to keep their conflicts with each other separate from their relationship as co-parents to their child.
Every year, 1 million U.S. kids become children of divorce. In settling child custody issues, their parents are likely to hammer out co-parenting agreements - committing to working together to raise their kids in spite of a divorce or separation. But co-parenting has its challenges. In the second part …

When parents separate, children often get caught in the crossfire. But an online support network, set up by single mothers Kate Ford and Emily Abbott, aims to soften the blow.
According to recent research, more than half of couples divorcing have at least one child aged under 16. In the complicated, emotionally sensitive world of marital break-up, they often become the victims – fought over, neglected and sometimes used as bargaining tools. And they frequently have questions and uncertainties about what has happened that no one in their own family can help them with.
Kate Ford, a …

A Dad’s Point-of-View, by Bruce Sallan Salem-News.com
This is a sad situation when it occurs, but I believe it’s incumbent on the primary parent to hold the line and retain standards of behavior and rules.
(AGOURA, Calif.) - Sitting in Starbuck’s the other day, waiting for my car to be serviced, I sat next to a mom who shared a “dirty little parenting secret.” Her kids, and she and her husband, have “favorites.” She gets along better with their younger child while her husband gets along better with the older child. I believe that this is …