Child Custody in Divorce: Parents' Decisions and Perceptions

A sample of 55 divorcing couples provided interview and questionnaire data regarding the factors they considered in reaching a decision about the custody of their children. Mothers and fathers were in agreement on the relative importance of various criteria (e.g., continuity in the child's environment, quality of the parent-child relationship) but did not agree on the extent to which each criterion favored one or the other to have custody. Parents rated themselves as more suitable to have custody than they were perceived to be by their partner. Generally fathers were less satisfied than mothers with the custody arrangement (75% of the couples agreed on mother custody, 13% on joint custody, and 10% had not yet decided). The results are discussed in the context of their implications for clinical work with divorcing families.