Coparentalidade – a influência de pais divorciados no desenvolvimento infantil : revisão integrativa

Abstract

In order to preserve the exercise of parenthood by both parents after marital separation, the term “coparenting” emerged to balance and name the new role of the former couple in the lives of their children. The family is very important for child development, and the changes within this nucleus after a divorce, with conflicting dynamics, can make it difficult to exercise parental responsibility together, bringing consequences for them. This integrative review aimed to understand how binuclear families can affect child development as well as the behavior that children present when living in two nuclear families in the post-divorce period. This is an integrative literature review that allows the simultaneous inclusion of experimental and quasi-experimental research, in addition to the combination of information from the theoretical and empirical literature for the knowledge acquired in the studies found, allowing precise knowledge about the phenomenon under research from the selected data. Following the steps of this integrative review, we selected 5 articles, which we can categorize into articles focused on divorce and coparenting, articles focusing on children and development, and articles focusing on child mental health. Therefore, this research allows us to perceive that coparenting implies a conciliation of roles related to child care, involving joint responsibilities such as their well-being. In other words, a couple with a romantic past must separate their marital life from their parental life, separating marital conflict from raising children. Coparental alliance regardless of a couple’s separation is essential to prevent future damage to children’s mental and physical health.