Joint custody can be damaging to a child’s growth and development. With equal time at mom and dad’s house, children can learn to ignore their developmental needs. Commonly, they will learn about each parent’s differences and learn to rely on only one of them. Joint custody can also cause a child to feel emotional distress and an immense amount of pressure. The emotional pressure is usually caused by feelings that they need to please their parents. Literature shows that children develop much better when they stay with one parents and receive frequent visits from the other parent. This may not be true for every child, however, because different children have different attachment styles.
Key Takeaways:
- In joint custody relationships, children tend to understand the circumstances and learn to cope with them.
- Children that are raised in joint custody are typically relaxed with one parent, and tense with the other.
- Most of children’s distress in joint custody relationships comes from having to physically live in two different places.
“The children describe feeling pressured emotionally. Often they become emotionally and physically overwhelmed and exhausted.”
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