Hey Mozza - I'm responding to this from RAI's thread:
Originally Posted By: Mozza
raliced: I'm very interested in the research on the detrimental impact of exposing kids to OP. Any pointers? My instinct tells me it's no big deal, but you know me enough to know that I will want to know what the research says and will bow to it.
I've never seen a scholarly study - just surveys. I based my comment that there is a wealth of readily available data on the number of articles on this topic. (Try googling "When to introduce kids to a romantic interest for the first few dozen )
I'd say they fall into two separate categories. There are warnings about introducing them too soon during the actual divorce and too soon afterwards - and the general thought seems to be that the kids are processing enough changes without the introduction of a new quasi-family member, and that it is also hard for them while they are grieving the end of their family.
Then there is a lot of advice about what to do post divorce - in that situation the guidance is generally to only introduce when its pretty serious because of the pain it can cause the kids if they get attached but the relationship ends. There does seem to be significant sub group that says that you need to introduce fairly early on to make sure the potential partner is ok with kids.
Somewhat ironically, the lawyer that my STBX is using has a "Divorce Resources" section on his site with an article that emphatically states you shouldn't introduce your kids to a new partner during divorce proceedings. Oh, how I wanted to send STBX that link!
