Family Court Rulings Linked to Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Parenting arrangements arising from family court decisions can have lasting effects on Parent-Child relationships, which can affect children’s emotional and physical development. In this study, parenting arrangements, also known as custody arrangements, are examined in terms of time allocated to each parent for the legal (decision-making) and physical (parenting time) aspects of parenting arrangements. The study aimed to identify patterns between temporary and final court decisions on parenting arrangements. Primary data were collected over 3 weeks in 2022 from 652 parents ages 19-64, with a child ages 3-17, and a U.S. family court decision. An 85-item, online survey, created for this study, was completed by participants recruited via social media and selected through cross-sectional convenience sampling. Two publishable papers were produced. Paper One identified patterns in court decisions, finding a statistically significant association between temporary and final rulings in court decisions. An ANOVA analysis found parental alienating behaviors for the legal aspect, represented by the Rowlands Parental Alienating Scale (RPAS) total score, were not statistically significant. Another ANOVA found a negligible, though statistically significant, positive relationship between the RPAS total score and the physical aspect. Paper Two assessed percentages in final physical rulings, perceived conflict, and closeness based on the Child-Parent Relationship Scale-Short Form (CPRS-SF), before and after initiating the court matter. Results indicated a weak yet significant negative association between final parenting time and Parent-Child conflict and a moderate yet significant positive association between final physical parenting time and Parent-Child closeness. A mediation model revealed conflict was not directly or indirectly influenced by parental alienating behaviors. However, an association was identified between closeness and final physical rulings. Parents at all percentages of parenting time reported increased conflict and decreased closeness in their Parent-Child relationship before and after the family court decision. This dissertation makes an important contribution by examining parenting arrangements\u27 legal and physical aspects, by percentages, in temporary and final court decisions. Results suggest factors in addition to parental alienating behaviors may influence Parent-Child relationships. The results underscore the importance of further research to examine the effects of family court decisions and parenting percentages on parent-child relationships. Keywords: parent-child relationship, temporary and final rulings, final physical parenting time, parent-child-contact-problems, parental alienating behavio