Joint Custody Best For Kids After Divorce

(Taylor, PA)—Joint custody is the best arrangement for children of divorce, according to the Journal of Family Psychology.

Children in joint-custody cases have less behavioral and emotional problems, higher self-esteem, better family relations and better school performance than children in sole custody, says the study.

“Children of divorce will do very well as long as both parents are able to cooperate in joint custody and stay involved in their lives,” says Tara Amaral, coauthor of the new book Our Great Kids.

Ultimately, joint custody is all about providing a stable, loving, supportive environment for the children. The parents’ needs are really secondary. The point is to provide children the opportunity to spend more time and establish good relationships with their parents after a separation or divorce.

“Divorce will always affect children,” says Chris Frie, coauthor of Our Great Kids. “Joint custody with positive involvement of both parents can make divorce less stressful for children and help them adjust to parental divorce much easier.”

Ms. Amaral and Mr. Frie, both divorced parents, put together Our Great Kids to help other parents like them. The book alleviates some of the problems divorced parents face when trying to raise their kids and gives practical advice on how be involved in the children’s lives and keep them happy.

Having used their system with great success for several years, Ms. Amaral and Mr. Frie have been encouraging others to develop healthy methods of communication so that the children of divorce aren’t negatively affected.

The authors have created the Web site www.OurGreatKids.com to go along with their new book. The site allows divorced parents to log in to their children’s accounts to communicate important dates, daily activities and special things that their children did. Parents can also exchange photos and receive e-mail alerts to remind them of scheduled activities.

(Our Great Kids by Tara Amaral and Chris Frie; ISBN: 978-0-9821091-0-6; $23.95; 104 pages; 8½” x 11”; softcover; spiral bound; TML Publishing)

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