Processes and Factors Contributing to Changing Attitudes Toward Parenting Time:

From an Interview Survey of Resident Mothers who Made Positive Changes in Parenting Time

Abstract

In this study, 11 resident mothers were interviewed. At the time of the divorce, these mothers had negative feelings about their children’s parenting time with their ex-husbands but at present their feelings towards such parenting time have changed to positive ones. The change in their attitude toward parenting time and the factors leading to this change were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. As the resident mothers continued to allow parenting time despite their dislike of their ex-husbands, feelings of anxiety, and discomfort with such parenting time, the resident mothers began to recognize the benefits of parenting time for themselves. They also began reevaluating their ex-husbands. Further, this change in attitude was due to factors such as their children’s happiness during parenting time with their fathers, the mothers’ situation becoming more stable with the support of family and friends, and the passage of time. The children developed a close relationship with both parents, although the roles of each were different: their fathers tended to pamper them, while their mothers tended to take a disciplinary role. While the children occasionally talked back to the disciplining mothers, they nevertheless developed a deep bond with them. The change in the resident mothers’ attitudes occurred because of parenting time. However, this conclusion involves the assumption that although the relationship between the parents soured, the father–child relationships were positive, the fathers were cooperatively involved in parenting, including paying child support, and the mothers were able to prioritize their children’s feelings above their own.