Child Mental Health in Separated Families in Norway: Does Changing Living Arrangements Matter

Background and research question: In recent decades, more children have been living equally with both parents after separation (shared residence), though many still live primarily with one (sole residence). Growth has been especially notable in the US and in Scandinavian countries. Some research has shown a positive association between shared residence and child wellbeing. However, residence is not fixed – many children and youth change residence arrangements over time. While several studies have tracked changes in arrangements within families, to our knowledge, no studies have explored whether these changes are related to children’s mental health. In this study, our research question is whether internalizing and externalizing problems develop differently over two timepoints for children who experience a change in residence arrangements, compared to those who stay in the same arrangement.

Methods: Data were drawn from the longitudinal FamC-study in which participating families were recruited from family counselling offices in Norway. The sample comprised 668 children whose parents had separated and for whom we have measures of internalizing and externalizing behavior at two time points. Half were female. We categorized children’s residence arrangements as sole (n = 119) or shared (n = 489). Our dependent variables were mothers’ report on children internalizing and externalizing problems, assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. As predictor variables, we included a stability/change variable of the child’s residence arrangement over time, a time variable, and their interaction. Child age and gender were included as covariates. We use multi-level models to account for having two observations from the same child.

Results: Most children stayed in the same arrangement on both occasions (82.7%). Our two key findings are: (1) while internalizing problems increased between waves, children who changed and those who stayed in the same arrangement did not differ significantly regarding the development of internalizing problems; (2) yet children who changed residence arrangement showed an increase in externalizing problems, whereas children who stayed in the same residence arrangement did not.

Conclusion and implications: Our findings suggest that changes in residence arrangements may be interpreted as stressful or unsettling for children, potentially manifesting as externalizing behaviors (at least from the mother’s perspective). While no such effects were observed for internalizing problems, this may be due to parents not recognizing subtle signs of distress, which are often more difficult to observe. Our findings highlight the need for social work interventions aimed at supporting children during family transitions. This study also has research implications. First, the differential results for internalizing and externalizing behavior highlight the importance of using multiple measures of mental health for a fuller understanding of child wellbeing in the context of family changes. Finally, the negative associations between change and children’s mental health in the Norwegian context are especially important given their relatively high level of policy support for shared residence, suggesting that research in other contexts could be particularly valuable to supplement this study.