Although growing numbers of parents share the physical custody of their children after family dissolution, empirical studies on the mechanisms through which post-separation care arrangements may affect parental well-being remain scarce. To fill this lacuna, the present study not only investigated the relationship between post-separation care arrangements and the life satisfaction of resident parents, but also whether the quality of co-parenting and the frequency of interparental conflict—two stressors associated with family dissolution—could explain this relationship. Based on data from the Family Models in Germany (FAMOD) study, structural equation models were estimated for an analytical sample of 1104 resident parents practicing either sole physical custody (SPC) or joint physical custody (JPC). The findings showed that parents with JPC experienced, on average, more life satisfaction than their counterparts with SPC. However, after considering the quality of co-parenting and the frequency of interparental conflict, the study found that the direct relationship between post-separation care arrangements and life satisfaction was no longer significant. Instead, practicing JPC was significantly related to both better co-parenting and fewer interparental conflicts, while the latter two factors were positively related to life satisfaction. In sum, this study showed that framework conditions, specifically elements of the interparental relationship, are more important factors to consider when investigating parents’ post-separation well-being than the type of care arrangement practiced. However, the role of selection processes in explaining these associations remains uncertain, including the question of whether practicing JPC actually enhances the quality of the interparental relationship.

尽管越来越多的父母在家庭解散后分享子女的身体监护权，但关于分居后照顾安排可能影响父母福祉的机制的实证研究仍然很少。为了填补这一空白，本研究不仅调查了分居后的照顾安排与居住父母的生活满意度之间的关系，还调查了共同养育的质量和父母间冲突的频率——与家庭解体相关的两个压力源——可以解释这种关系。根据德国家庭模型 (FAMOD) 研究的数据，对 1104 名实行单独身体监护 (SPC) 或联合身体监护 (JPC) 的居民父母的分析样本估计了结构方程模型。调查结果表明，患有 JPC 的父母平均比患有 SPC 的父母体验到更高的生活满意度。然而，在考虑共同抚养的质量和父母间冲突的频率后，研究发现，分居后的照顾安排与生活满意度之间的直接关系不再显着。相反，实践 JPC 与更好的共同养育和更少的父母间冲突显着相关，而后两个因素与生活满意度呈正相关。总而言之，这项研究表明，框架条件，特别是父母间关系的要素，是调查父母分居后幸福感的更重要的考虑因素，而不是实际的照料安排类型。然而，