This is true regardless of which parent is reporting. However, regardless of residence, mothers are more likely than fathers to do these functions, particularly in the case of medical regimens. These results suggest that mothers remain the primary managers of the child's life even after divorce and regardless of the custody or residence pattern. The researchers also examined the communication patterns of divorced families over the course of the study. Over time there are other changes in the attempts at managing parenting across households.
Parents report that the other parent on average neither backs up their parenting or undermines it.
That is, on average it is neither one nor the other. This does not change over time. Four broad general patterns of coparenting were identified by Maccoby and Mnookin. Cooperative coparenting was defined as talking frequently, coordinating rules in the two households, and not trying to avoid contact with the other parent. Importantly, most of the parents in this pattern the first time are still in this pattern on the second occasion.