Contribution of Health, Coparenting, and Maturity of Defense Mechanisms to the Quality of Life of Divorcing and Divorced Parents: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This longitudinal study, carried out among 78 divorcing and divorced parents in Israel, examined changes in their coparenting over a 2-year period and the contribution of their coparenting behaviors and defense mechanisms, at three time points, to their quality of life at Time 3. Data were collected between 2007 and 2009. At Time 1 couples appeared in the family court, and Times 2 and 3 were 1 and 2 years later, respectively. The main findings show that (1) both parents' participation and consideration decreased over time, (2) both tension/hostility with the spouse and low level of mature defense mechanisms eroded the participants' quality of life, (3) the ability of tension/hostility to undermine the participants' quality of life exceeded the ability of mature defense mechanisms to improve it, (4) the negative impact of the participants' coparenting relationship and immature defense mechanisms in the first year endured to the third year, and (5) being free of health problems contributed significantly to the participants' quality of life. The limitations, contributions, and practical implications of the study are noted.