Shared Physical Custody and Children’s Experience of Stress

ABSTRACT

This article studies shared physical custody in Sweden, the country in the world where the phenomenon is most prevalent. We ask whether children in shared physical custody settings are more likely to report high levels of stress compared to children living in sole custody. The analysis is based on data with combined information from parents, children, and administrative registers. The models are controlled control for interparental as well as parent–child relationship quality and parents’ income. The results show that children sharing residence equally have lower likelihood of experiencing high levels of stress. The results can be interpreted as evidence for a positive effect of continuing everyday-like parental relationships after a family dissolution.

KEYWORDS:

• Child well-being
• family structure
• joint custody
• shared physical custody
• stepfamily

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Lawrence Berger, Linda Nielsen, and Elizabeth Thomson for reading earlier drafts of this article and for providing useful comments.

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 320116 for the research project FamiliesAndSocieties and from and Forte: The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Program Grant No. 2012–1736).

Additional information

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 320116 for the research project FamiliesAndSocieties and from and Forte: The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Program Grant No. 2012–1736).