Divorced Fathers' Perceptions of Parental Disclosures to Children

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine divorced fathers' views about the appropriateness of disclosures and explore their disclosure strategies.BackgroundParental disclosures are common occurrences in the context of divorce; they may be harmful or beneficial depending on what information is disclosed and how parents disclose to their children. However, relatively little is known about divorced fathers' perceptions of parental disclosures to children.MethodIn‐depth qualitative interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 20 divorced fathers who had children between 10 and 18 years of age. Data were analyzed by using a strategy called interpretive description, which borrows from other qualitative approaches while allowing researchers to pragmatically apply various techniques to their applied research questions.ResultsThere generally was consensus among fathers about which subjects should and should not be shared with children. Fathers perceived their own disclosures to be more appropriate than similar disclosures made by others, including their coparents. Fathers used three primary approaches for managing how much information to disclose with their children: (a) transparency (i.e., being open as possible); (b) limiting (i.e., restricting verbal and nonverbal communications); and (c) concealment (i.e., completely hiding information from children).ConclusionHow divorced fathers evaluate parental disclosures is important to guide their own disclosures and strategies.ImplicationTo better understand parental disclosures after divorce, there needs to be more research on parental disclosures. Practitioners and parent educators should help divorced parents carefully evaluate their own disclosures to establish clear and healthy communication boundaries with their children and coparents.