Issues of infidelity and violence are related to divorce. Some couples experience such negative life events while other couples do not. Furthermore, marital satisfaction and life satisfaction are associated with divorce, so it is important to identify the factors that influence the rise/decline of marital and life satisfaction. This study has three aims: 1) survey on negative life events among child-rearing couples, 2) identification of factors that lead to a decrease/increase in marital satisfaction, and 3) identification of factors that lead to a decrease/increase in life satisfaction. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2019 with the cooperation of four institutions, and data from 192 individuals (79 fathers and 113 mothers）were included in the analysis. The results of the analysis showed that 1) a certain number of couples experienced such negative life events, 2) lower internal stressors and higher relational support predicted higher marital satisfaction, 3) higher internal stressor predicted lower life satisfaction.

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This study aimed to examine the relationship between mothers’ cognition of fathers’ parenting time following divorce; it also assessed the effects of mothers’ social support and assessment of their children’s intentions and condition. A questionnaire survey was conducted with divorced mothers living with their children in the fourth grade of elementary school through the third grade of junior high school. A total of 167 mothers were included in the analysis. Regarding mothers’ cognition of fathers’ parenting time, hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that “concerns about their own safety and the safety of their children” led to restriction of a father’s parenting time only when a mother’s social support was low. In addition, “concerns about remarriage” decreased the facilitation of a father’s parenting time only when the mother’s assessment of the child’s intentions and condition was low. The importance of social support for mothers and their assessment of children’s intentions and condition, as well as implications for practice, were discussed.

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This study aimed to develop a scale of parental alienation for divorced Japanese parents (PASPJ) with reference to the Rowlands Parental Alienation Scale (Rowlands, 2019), and to verify its reliability and validity. A survey was conducted of 648 people with divorce experience and children aged 15 or younger, regarding provisional items for the PASPJ, parent-child relationships, and life satisfaction. A factor analysis of the PASPJ’s provisional items yielded five factors: “lack of positive affect toward one parent,” “presence of borrowed scenarios,” “unconditional reflexive support for the other parent,” “campaign of denigration,” and “independent thinker.” A two-factor analysis of variance revealed that separated parents had higher scores than parents living with their children in “lack of positive affect toward one parent,” “presence of borrowed scenarios,” and “unconditional reflexive support for the other parent.” Furthermore, the correlation between PASPJ, parent-child relationship scale and life satisfaction scale showed an expected association, while “independent thinker” showed an association contrary to expectations. From these, We developed the PASPJ, which consists of four subscales excluding “independent thinkers.”

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This study aimed to examine the factors that contribute to maintaining a good coparenting relationship after divorce or separation, by clarifying the process to select coparenting styles during the consensus-building process over coparenting. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with14 parents who had experienced divorce or separation and who had still maintained relationships with their children and the non-residential parent, and the results were analyzed with the Trajectory Equifinality Approach (TEA). The results of the analysis revealed the various pathways to the decision to coparent with an ex-spouse, and showed that the pathways would affect the stability of the coparenting relationships, in particular that the initial phase following divorce is critical in establishing the coparenting relationships. Furthermore, it was suggested that the process to share the awareness of the significance of coparenting for their family between the ex-spouses, as well as emphasizing the acceptability of the process itself in the consensus-building, would contribute to establishing a stable coparenting relationship after divorce.

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