require or wish for specialist help.
- Information for parents can also be helpful. It is important to allay the worries of many parents that separation itself can have a damaging and permanent effect on their children. It is equally important to convey the message that present and future factors, such as family conflict, could have detrimental effects. Parents should be encouraged to minimise the involvement of children in their disputes.
- There are likely to be benefits from enabling children to maintain contact with both their parents. Aside from circumstances where it is necessary to protect children from family violence or abuse, support services should facilitate the continuing involvement of non-custodial parents in their children's lives.
- Acknowledgement of diverse family forms by policy makers and support groups is vital if families are to be helped to function in ways that are best for the health and well-being of their individual members. Support may be just as important at times of forming step-families as it is following separation.
About the study
This study reviewed the findings of about 200 research reports from overseas and the UK, but concentrating on the latter, and covered research over several decades.