Coparenting After Divorce: An Approach to Typologies and Context of Intervention

Abstract

Co-parenting after divorce is the relationship of mutual collaboration, support and communication between two parents no longer romantically linked to each other, who work together to raise and care for their children together. Over the past decade, research on co-parenting after divorce has increased. Therefore, the question arises as: what has been published in the last decade on co-parenting after divorce or separation? The aim of this study was to collect, review and synthesize articles published in scientific databases about co-parenting after divorce, to inform about the state of the art on this topic in the last decade to update professionals, academics and researchers who work in the family area, such as social workers, psychologists or lawyers. Thus, a systematic literature review was carried out in seventeen academic databases during August and September 2023. This systematic literature review followed the preferred reporting protocol for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA-P) and it was registered in PROSPERO (ID=CRD42022306146). Twenty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria and the quality of each one of them was evaluated with the MMAT instrument. Data were analyzed following the guide for narrative synthesis in systematic reviews. The results show that most of the articles were published during the year 2017, mostly they were from the United States, the type of studies were investigation, with a quantitative design whose participants were fathers and mothers (not dyads). Three recurring themes were identified in the included studies. The three themes were named as: (1) co-parenting categories, (2) components, and (3) interventions. In addition, an integration of the study variables found in the included articles is included and they are organized into four dimensions: positive and negative co-parental relationships, and internal and external factors. It is recommended to regulate through public policies that divorced parents attend interventions or psychoeducational programs as a compulsory stage of the divorce process to promote good co-parenting and prevent conflictive co-parenting relationships.