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On 18 December 2006, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) published research (Family dynamics after divorce: a meta-analysis) which finds that, despite the difficulties that arise in the immediate aftermath of relationship break-down, in divorced families, as in other families, Christmas is a time when people are acutely aware of the emotional significance of ‘family’ and will seek to forge, renew or strengthen those ties that they value.
These findings result from a re-analysis of data from previous research which followed a sample of divorced or separated parents and their children over a nine year period. The research is based on the view that family change is a process rather than a one off event, and that one of the best ways to understand this, is to track family members over time, exploring their changing experiences and the changing nature of their relationships.
Taking this long-term view offers a valuable insight into key relationships within the family. While parent-child relationships are often thought of as the most significant of family ties, sibling relationships are perhaps the closest and yet most volatile of family ties. Finding a balance between being separate and yet connected to a sibling is important, and this is nowhere more evident than in post- divorce and step- families, where the options for working out these balances across two or more homes are all the greater.
The report can be viewed on the ESRC website