"Parenting time, parenting quality, interparental conflict, and mental health problems of children in high-conflict divorce": Correction to O'Hara et al. (2019).

Abstract

Reports an error in "Parenting time, parenting quality, interparental conflict, and mental health problems of children in high-conflict divorce" by Karey L. O'Hara, Irwin N. Sandler, Sharlene A. Wolchik, Jenn-Yun Tein and C. Aubrey Rhodes (Journal of Family Psychology, 2019[Sep], Vol 33[6], 690-703). In the article, the last sentence of the first paragraph under the heading "Are There Nonlinear Associations Between PT and PQ and IPC?" in the Discussion section incorrectly closes with "somewhere between 33% and 40% time with each parent." Instead, the text should read "somewhere between 33% and 40% time with the father." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2019-40282-001.) Despite widespread acknowledgment that "frequent, continuing, and meaningful" (Pruett & DiFonzo, 2014) time with both parents is beneficial for children from divorced or separated families, and that interparental conflict (IPC) is associated with increased child mental health problems, the joint effects of parenting time (PT), parenting quality (PQ), and IPC on children's mental health problems are less clear. The current study integrates two theoretical models in multiple mediator analyses to test indirect effects of mothers' and fathers' PQ and IPC to explain the association between PT and children's mental health problems within the same model. Participants were children aged 9-18 years (N = 141) who had one or both parents participate in a randomized comparative effectiveness trial of a court-based prevention program for high-conflict divorcing or separating families. Data were collected at pretest and 9-month follow-up. Analyses revealed an indirect effect in which fathers' PQ mediated the association between PT and child internalizing problems both concurrently and 9 months later. There were no significant indirect effects involving IPC. Analyses indicated a significant quadratic relation between PT and fathers' PQ, suggesting that although more PT is associated with better father-child relationships, there is a point beyond which more time is not related to a better relationship. We discuss the study findings, research limitations, and implications for public policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).