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The review found that children experienced shared care in different ways. Some found different rules and routines, exchange days, distance between homes, friendships, activities, and belonging difficult. Most children in the qualitative studies were satisfied with shared care because they valued substantial contact with both parents. Relationships within the family, parental conflict, communication, parental health, and finances reduced or sometimes removed measured differences between care arrangements.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperShared care was associated with better child mental health overall, while high parental conflict was associated with worse mental health. When conflict was high, children in shared care and children living mainly with one parent had similar levels of mental health problems. The shared-care advantage was therefore not visible in the high-conflict group.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperParents described using communication books, similar basic sleep and food routines, schedule changes, preschool transfers, and extra contact when a child missed the other parent. Some accepted different rules in each home and believed children could adapt. Others found the differences difficult. Most parents thought their children had adapted well, with the notable exception of families experiencing continuing conflict.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe review found a genuinely mixed pattern. Four studies linked more father contact with more child problems when conflict remained high several years after divorce, and three of those results differed by the child's sex. Studies measuring conflict during divorce or within the next two or three years were mixed. Three studies found no significant interaction between conflict and parenting time. Better-quality parenting by either parent was associated with fewer child problems in several high-conflict samples.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperChildren with secure attachment relationships to both parents had somewhat better language skills than children with one secure parent relationship or none. Secure relationships with mothers and fathers were equally relevant to the result.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe review examined 60 studies. In 34 studies, children in shared care did better on every outcome measured. In 14, they did better on some outcomes and the same on the rest. In 6, the groups did equally well. In the final 6, shared-care children had one poorer result but did equally well or better on the other outcomes. None of the 60 studies found that shared-care children did worse on every outcome measured.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperNielsen reviewed 17 studies that accounted for parental conflict when comparing shared physical custody with children living mainly with one parent. She reported that 16 found better outcomes on most measures for the shared-care group after conflict was considered. Across overlapping outcome categories, all 9 studies assessing father relationships or stress-related health favoured shared care; 6 of 9 behavioural studies favoured shared care and 3 found equal outcomes; 8 of 12 social and emotional studies favoured shared care and 4 found equal outcomes; and 2 of 5 academic studies favoured shared care while 3 found equal outcomes.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperYoung adults who had spent more nights with their fathers before age three reported stronger later relationships with their fathers. Their relationships with their mothers were not weaker. The pattern remained after the researchers took account of several measured differences between the families, but the study could not prove that overnights caused the later relationships.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe report challenged blanket restrictions on young children's overnight care and said courts must consider the risk of weakening or losing the father-child relationship as well as possible attachment concerns. Citing the Stanford Custody Project, it reported father dropout of 56% with daytime-only contact versus 1.6% with overnight contact for children under three when their parents separated. For children aged three to five, the reported figures were 49% versus 7.7%. For families described as high conflict, Warshak argued against an automatic exclusion. He recommended examining the source and pattern of conflict, the quality of each parent's care, and whether practical protections such as school, daycare, or neutral-location transfers could keep children away from hostile exchanges.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe study produced mixed results. Infants who frequently stayed overnight were more likely to be classified as insecurely attached, although the study could not prove that overnights caused this difference. The toddler result was uncertain. When the children were assessed at ages 3 and 5, frequent overnights did not predict more emotional or behavioural adjustment problems.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperChildren in joint legal or physical custody had better average results than children in sole custody for emotional and behavioural problems, self-esteem, family relationships, general wellbeing, and coping with divorce. Their average results were similar to children in families where the parents had not separated.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperInfants in the overnight group were more often placed in concerning attachment categories than infants in the married-parent comparison group. Within the overnight group, the most concerning attachment pattern was more common where parents communicated poorly, had high conflict, or struggled to help the infant feel emotionally protected.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperChildren were more likely to have secure attachments when caregivers noticed their signals and responded appropriately. The relationship was meaningful but modest, so responsive care matters without being the only influence on attachment.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe review found that trained researchers could identify the pattern with reasonable consistency. Children given this classification were more likely, on average, to have later difficulty managing stress or controlling outward behaviour such as aggression. Many children did not develop those problems.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe review recommended frequent contact with both parents for young children when both relationships were established and care was adequate. For children younger than two or three, the authors preferred contact every day or every other day. They considered most two-year-olds capable of two consecutive overnights with either parent, while advising against five-to-seven-day separations for toddlers. By approximately seven or eight, most children could usually manage five-to-seven-day separations.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe report found poorer results on some measures intended to reflect settling and emotional regulation among selected groups of very young children in shared overnight care. The pattern did not appear across every age, measure, or source of information. The authors said age, conflict, established care, and family circumstances should be considered together.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe authors described attachment and parental involvement as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. They rejected blanket prohibition while retaining caution about frequent schedules where a relationship is not established or conflict is high.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperWhen the 19 studies were combined, children in shared care had slightly better emotional, behavioural, and social outcomes on average. The difference was small. Families were not randomly assigned, so the review could not prove that shared care caused the advantage.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe international studies generally reported positive results, but they defined shared care differently, studied different ages and outcomes, and came from different social and legal settings. These differences make a single universal conclusion unsafe.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe international group agreed that children need familiar caregivers who are safe, benefit from continuity of adequate care, and can benefit from important attachment relationships with several people. The experts disagreed about how much weight courts should place on formal attachment assessments in an individual case.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperWarshak argued that attachment theory was being overstated to claim that a child needs one psychologically primary parent or should generally be kept from overnight care with the other parent. He said the underlying research did not justify that level of certainty.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperWarshak argued that prominent cautionary claims exceeded what the observational designs, measures, and reported findings could establish, and that overnight decisions should not be governed by blanket age rules.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperJudges, lawyers, mental-health providers, and court staff generally viewed the law positively. On average, they did not report an increase or decrease in legal disputes or conflict between parents. They did report small increases in allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, and substance abuse, which the study said required attention.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperThe framework organized relevant considerations around the child, each parent–child relationship, coparenting conditions, safety, developmental capacities, and the practical demands of transitions.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperSome groups of the youngest children in frequent overnight care had poorer results on selected parent-reported measures intended to reflect settling and emotional regulation. Other measures and age groups did not show the same pattern. Because families chose or received their existing schedules, the paper could not prove that overnights caused the differences.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperSixteen percent of the 7,718 children in the care-time analysis were in shared care, defined as 35% to 65% of nights with each parent. Children in shared care were reported as doing as well as or better than children spending 1% to 34% of nights with their father. Fathers reported somewhat higher wellbeing in shared-care groups; mothers generally reported no significant difference between those groups.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperChildren whose parents lived together reported the fewest sleep problems, concentration difficulties, headaches, stomach aches, tension, sadness, dizziness, and appetite loss. Among children with separated parents, those in shared care reported fewer of these symptoms than children living mostly or only with one parent.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paperChildren in shared care had fewer reported psychological symptoms than children living mostly or only with one parent. Parents and preschool teachers both reported results in the same direction, although the differences were modest.
Open summary and publication detailsClose this paper