Divorced parents' perceived benefits and risks of dating and sharing of dating information

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Youngjin Kang,Lawrence Ganong,Kwangman Ko
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12735

RESEARCH

Divorced parents’perceived benefits and risks

of dating and sharing of dating information

Youngjin Kang

1

|Lawrence Ganong

2

|Kwangman Ko

3

1

Human Services Program, School of Public

Management and Policy, University of

Illinois–Springfield, Springfield, IL

2

Department of Human Development and

Family Science, University of Missouri,

Columbia, MO

3

Department of Counseling and Human

Services, East Tennessee State University,

Johnson City, TN

Correspondence Youngjin Kang, Human

Services Program, School of Public

Management and Policy, University of

Illinois–Springfield, One University Plaza,

BRK 316, Springfield, IL 62703-5407, USA.

Email: ykang33@uis.edu

Abstract

Objective: In this study we explored the associations

among divorced parents’perceptions of the benefits and

risks of dating and parents’sharing of private information

about dating, specifically information related to the timing

of introducing dating partners to children and coparents

and disclosures to children about dating activities.

Background: Relatively little is known about how divorced

parents decide how open they should be about disclosing

information about dating partners.

Method: A convenience sample comprised 284 divorced

mothers and 117 divorced fathers recruited following a

state-mandated divorce education program. Participants

completed an online survey. Data were analyzed with

regression analyses.

Results: When parents perceive the dating partner as a

benefit in coparenting their children, they are more likely

to think that dating partners should be introduced earlier

to children and that more information about dating rela-

tionships should be shared with children. Concerns about

other’s perceptions were related to later introductions

between dating partners and children.

Conclusion: Some of the divorced parents’perceptions of

possible dating benefits and risks are related to introducing

a new partner and sharing dating information with

children.

Implications: Family practitioners could help divorced par-

ents evaluate both how to approach introduction of dating

parents, as well as dating partners’potential to assist them

in childrearing if the relationship becomes serious or long

term. More research is needed on what goes into parental

decisions to disclose information about dating to children.

KEYWORDS

coparents, dating, disclosure, divorce

Received: 3 December 2021Revised: 16 May 2022Accepted: 27 May 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12735

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

1088 Family Relations. 2023;72:1088–1102.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare