Publication

This study aimed to clarify the process through which resident mothers maintained fathers’ parenting time with their children following separation or divorce. The narratives of 10 resident mothers who maintained the fathers’ parenting visitation time were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. The results indicated that upon granting parenting visitation time to the father, mothers had no confidence in their children’s interests. Mothers maintained parenting time by wavering between holding expectations for the father and expecting them to desert. Furthermore, mothers alternated between feeling anxious and secure regarding parenting time while not knowing whether the father’s parenting time would benefit the child. The following factors also affected the process: feelings of loss, feeling overwhelmed with childcare, and having peer support. The study’s results regarding the difficulty of parenting time and the factor of the continuation of parenting time were also discussed.