Co-Parenting During Separation and After Divorce: Exploring Relational Aggression Towards the Former Romantic Partner...

Hostile co-parenting can escalate during separation and divorce with significant ramifications on family relationships. The relational and private nature of this behavior can make it hard to document, study, and understand. The purpose of the present study was to determine how relational aggression targeting the co-parent (and former romantic partner), is associated with relational aggression targeting the parent-child bond. The sample consisted of 103 divorced/separated parents (45% fathers) who were co-parenting at least one child with their former partner (Mage years = 43.66, SD = 9.39). Parents completed measures assessing their engagement in different forms of relational aggression (toward their former partner and the child(ren)), relational abuse (from their romantic partner and their child(ren)), maladaptive personality traits, and vignettes assessing perceptions of loyalty/betrayal. Results suggest that parents who reported elevated levels of romantic relational abuse and who had stronger beliefs about betrayal (rating it as morally unacceptable) also reported more frequent engagement in both forms of relational aggression. Maladaptive personality traits (both psychopathic and narcissistic traits) were linked with romantic relational aggression. Perceptions of loyalty moderated the link between parental narcissistic traits and romantic relational aggression; and the link between parental psychopathic traits and excluding the co-parent, with parents more strongly opposed, engaging in these behaviors. The positive association among the two forms of relational aggression suggest that parent-child bond-breaking behaviors are best understood in the context of wider engagement in relational aggression, however each form of relational aggression has its unique nuances which need to be considered when developing prevention and intervention programs.