Abstract (eng)
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, families in Austria experienced challenging times. Especially in single-parent families, the pandemic-related restrictions required a reorganization of family life. This master's thesis examines how separated or divorced mothers experienced parental cooperation (coparenting) with nonresident fathers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria and what challenges arose over time. The data basis for this master's thesis consists of problem-centered telephone interviews and electronic diary entries from the qualitative longitudinal study "Corona and Family Life", which investigated the experiences of families during the COVID-19 pandemic between March 2020 and June 2022 in Austria. A subsample of seven separated or divorced mothers was conducted and analyzed. The entire dataset for this master's thesis consists of 45 interview transcripts and 31 diary entries. In the initial phase of data analysis, a thematic analysis was conducted to identify relevant text fragments. The relevant text passages were then analyzed using the Grounded Theory coding procedure. Theoretically, this master's thesis is based on the Ecological Theory and the Family Stress Theory as well as the Ecological Model of Coparenting by Feinberg. Thorough analysis enabled the development of a typology of four different types of coparenting relationships: (a) the conflict-free harmonious, (b) the constructively solution-oriented, (c) the actively quarreling and (d) the consciously distant. These distinct types of coparenting relationships were based on the subjective experiences of single mothers in six comparative dimensions. These dimensions include parental cooperation, parental communication, parental conflict level, perceptions of the father's role and triangulation, maternal worries and burdens as well as the father-child-relationship. The interviewed mothers experienced multiple insecurities and burdens, particulary at the beginning of the pandemic, which increased the amount of arguments with the ex-partner or intensified existing conflicts. This particularly affected cooperation with the ex-partner, renegotiation of custody arrangements and compatability issues between employment and childcare. Regardless of the coparenting relationship type, these were the greatest challenges for the interviewed mothers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria.