The efficacy of postdivorce intervention programs for children: A meta-analytical review

Preventive postdivorce interventions aim to help children cope with divorce and promote their adjustment. Nevertheless, questions remain regarding the concrete outcomes of these interventions and the intervention characteristics that influence them. This meta-analysis of 30 studies analyzes the efficacy of postdivorce interventions on children's symptomatology, personal resources, and adaptation to divorce. Likewise, it explores whether the intervention impacts the putative mediators from the family context and whether the characteristics of the studies themselves also influence the results. Using a data set of N = 4344 individuals, 258 effect sizes were calculated. Random effects analyses evidenced the impact of the interventions on specific variables instead of on children's global adjustment. There were no significant effects on children's mental health outcomes, and none of these effects were qualified by the moderators that were examined. Preventive postdivorce interventions had significant effects, specifically on children's divorce adjustment and self-esteem. The study of the moderators found that the interventions were generally homogeneous, and only one of the 20 moderators examined had a significant effect. Based on children's age, the interventions had an impact on family functioning only when they involved younger children, but this result should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample of studies. This meta-analysis provides evidence of the relevance of postdivorce interventions to critical variables as well as information about the role of the intervention characteristics in the effects and makes suggestions for future research on divorce interventions that encompass both practical and empirical developments.     

Fear of abandonment as a mediator of the relations between divorce stressors and mother-child relationship quality and children's adjustment problems

This study examines whether fear of abandonment mediates the prospective relations between divorce stressors and mother–child relationship quality and adjustment problems of children of divorce. Participants were 216 children, ages 8–12, and their primary residential mothers. Children reported on divorce stressors and fear of abandonment; mothers and children reported on mother–child relationship quality and internalizing and externalizing problems. Structural equation models indicated that Time 1 fear of abandonment mediated the relation between Time 1 divorce stressors and Time 2 internalizing and externalizing problems. Time 1 fear of abandonment also mediated the relation between Time 1 mother–child relationship quality and Time 2 internalizing and externalizing problems. Implications of these results for understanding variability in children's postdivorce adjustment problems and interventions for divorced families are discussed.     

The Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model: The Shaping Role of Predivorce and Postdivorce Interparental Conflict

Divorce has been conceptualized as a process. Research has extensively demonstrated that it is pre/postdivorce family environment factors that primarily account for the variability in children’s adaptation over parental divorce process rather than the legal divorce per se. Amongst various factors, interparental conflict has been consistently identified as a prominent one. Surprisingly, a single source is still lacking that comprehensively synthesizes the extant findings. This review fills this gap by integrating the numerous findings across studies into a more coherent Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model to illustrate that pre/postdivorce interparental conflict plays crucial roles in shaping child adaptation trajectories across parental divorce process. This review also summarizes the mechanisms (e.g., child cognitive and emotional processes, coparenting, parent–child relations) via which pre/postdivorce interparental conflict determines these trajectories and the factors (e.g., child gender and age, child coping, grandparental support) that interact with pre/postdivorce interparental conflict to further complicate these trajectories. In addition, echoing the call of moving beyond the monolithic conceptualization of pre/postdivorce interparental conflict, we also review studies on the differential implications of different aspects (e.g., frequency versus intensity) and types (e.g., overt versus covert) of interparental conflict for child adjustment. Last, limitations of prior studies and avenues for future research are discussed. The proposed framework may serve as a common knowledge base for researchers to compare/interpret results, detect cutting edges of the fields, and design new studies. The specificity, complexity, nuance, and diversity inherent within our proposed model await to be more fully revealed.

     

Self-regulation as a moderator of the relation between coping and symptomatology in children of divorce

Investigated the effects of self-regulation as a moderator of the relations between coping efforts and psychological symptoms of children of divorce. The interactions of two dimensions of self-regulation (task orientation and approach-flexibility) and two dimensions of coping (active and avoidant) predicting children's postdivorce symptoms were tested using a sample of 199 divorced mothers and their children, ages 8 to 12. The approach-flexibility dimension moderated the relations of both active and avoidant coping with children's self-report of anxiety. At higher levels of approach-flexibility, active coping was negatively related to anxiety, while at lower levels of approach-flexibility, active coping was unrelated to anxiety. Avoidant coping was un-related to anxiety at higher levels of approach-flexibility, whereas at lower levels of approach-flexibility, avoidant coping was positively related to anxiety. The task orientation dimension did not interact with coping, but had direct, independent effects on children's self-report of conduct problems, depression, and parent-report of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The implications for understanding children's coping with divorce and future directions for research are discussed.Support for this research was provided by NIMH Grants P50-MH39246 to support a Preventive Intervention Research Center at Arizona State University and 5-T32-MH18387 for Post- and Pre-doctoral Training in Prevention Research at Arizona State University. The authors thank Leona Aiken, Jane Bernzweig, and Wendy Kliewer for their contributions to this project.     

Stability and quality of life events and psychological symptomatology in children of divorce

Studied the relations between postdivorce events and maladjustment of children of divorce using a two-dimensional model of events. One dimension concerned the stability of events and included whether they were increases, decreases, or the continuation of stable conditions. The second dimension was quality, and included whether they had a positive or negative valence. Two samples of children of divorce (ns = 142 and 64) ages 8-15 were studied. Children's overall maladjustment as reported by children and parents were the criterion variables. Scores were derived from a life events schedule for children of divorce to assess the occurrence and stability of positive and negative divorce-related events. The relations between event scores and maladjustment were different when children's self-reports and parent reports were used as criterion. In predicting children's self-reported maladjustment (a) stable positive events but not changes in positive events were related to lower maladjustment (b) increased negative events were related to higher maladjustment, and (c) change for the worse was related to higher maladjustment. In predicting parent reports of children's maladjustment, only the relations of the change for the worse score were replicated. Implications of the results for the design of preventive interventions and for the study of children in stressful situations are discussed.     

Maternal Acceptance and Consistency of Discipline as Buffers of Divorce Stressors on Children's Psychological Adjustment Problems

This study examines whether two aspects of mothering—acceptance and consistency of discipline—buffer the effect of divorce stressors on adjustment problems in 678 children, ages 8 to 15, whose families had divorced within the past 2 years. Children reported on divorce stressors; both mothers and children reported on mothering and internalizing and externalizing problems. Multiple regressions indicate that for maternal report of mothering, acceptance interacted with divorce stressors in predicting both dimensions of adjustment problems, with the pattern of findings supporting a stress-buffering effect. For child report of mothering, acceptance, consistency of discipline, and divorce stressors interacted in predicting adjustment problems. The relation between divorce stressors and internalizing and externalizing problems is stronger for children who report low acceptance and low consistency of discipline than for children who report either low acceptance and high consistency of discipline or high acceptance and low consistency of discipline. Children reporting high acceptance and high consistency of discipline have the lowest levels of adjustment problems. Implications of these results for understanding variability in children's postdivorce adjustment and interventions for divorced families are discussed.     

离婚对儿童青少年心理发展的影响:父母冲突的重要作用

离婚对儿童青少年心理发展的影响从20世纪70年代末开始引起国内外研究者的极大关注。本文从以下三个方面对离婚如何影响儿童青少年心理发展的研究进行综述:(1)离婚与儿童青少年心理发展关系的研究在不同历史阶段的理论变迁——从"严重影响说"到"有限影响说";(2)离婚影响儿童青少年心理发展的机制探讨:大量研究都证实父母冲突是比离婚本身对儿童青少年影响更大的一个因素,离婚前父母冲突会调节离婚对儿童青少年的影响方向和大小,离婚后的父母冲突与父母共同养育会通过影响亲子关系和父母的教养行为进而对儿童青少年的心理发展造成影响;(3)现有研究对实践工作以及未来研究方向的启示。     

The promotion of wellness in children and families challenges and opportunities.

This article considers the effects of marital disruption on children and families, using a risk and resilience perspective. The challenges that parental divorce poses for children are widely recognized; however, less attention has been given to strategies for promoting children's resilience and healthy developmental trajectories. The purpose of this article is to redress that imbalance by highlighting the importance of understanding pathways toward risk and resilience in children in the aftermath of divorce and the ways in which this research can be integrated into effective, evidence-based preventive interventions and proactive social policies that foster supportive parent-child relationships and psychological wellness in children and families.     

Factors influencing child witnesses

This study elucidates how professional intervention can influence children's abilities to report accurately about abuse experiences. Based on knowledge acquired through previous research and the present case study, the study shows how methods of information acquisition used during preliminary investigations can negatively affect child reports. The case study emanates from a larger study of 193 allegedly sexually abused children. Examination of these police interviews shows that 55 children were interviewed more than once and their reports were exposed to possible professional influences before and during the preliminary investigation. The case study reveals the inadequate management of a child witness. The findings indicate that police officers and psychologists should avoid suggestive interventions and co-ordinate their efforts during the preliminary investigation in order to safeguard the children's as well as the suspects' legal interests. This paper points out the need for implementing interview interventions that can enhance children's abilities to report accurately about abuse experiences.     

Children's living arrangements following separation and divorce: insights from empirical and clinical research

When parents separate, children typically enter into new living arrangements with each parent in a pattern determined most often by one or both parents or, failing private agreement, as a result of recommendations and decisions by lawyers, therapists, custody evaluators, or family courts. Most of these decisions have been based on cultural traditions and beliefs regarding postseparation parenting plans, visitation guidelines adopted within jurisdictions, unsubstantiated theory, and strongly held personal values and professional opinions, and have resulted since the 1960s in children spending most of their time with one residential parent and limited time with nonresident, or "visiting," parents. A large body of social science and child development research generated over the past three decades has identified factors associated with risk and resiliency of children after divorce. Such research remains largely unknown and untapped by parents and professionals making these crucial decisions about children's living arrangements. This article highlights empirical and clinical research that is relevant to the shape of children's living arrangements after separation, focusing first on what is known about living arrangements following divorce, what factors influence living arrangements for separated and divorced children, children's views about their living arrangements, and living arrangements associated with children's adjustment following divorce. Based on this research, it is argued that traditional visiting patterns and guidelines are, for the majority of children, outdated, unnecessarily rigid, and restrictive, and fail in both the short and long term to address their best interests. Research-based parenting plan models offering multiple options for living arrangements following separation and divorce more appropriately serve children's diverse developmental and psychological needs.     

Child of divorce: An overview

Children of divorce represent a diverse population at risk for subsequent psychological problems, whose interests are insufficiently understood or protected by the legal system or the mental health community. Although many children weather the stress of marital breakdown without psychopathological sequelae, a significant number show lasting difficulties. Information concerning the psychological adaptation of these children has increased rapidly during the past decade, but it remains unequel to the task of guiding family policy in this arena. Current knowledge identifies child gender and developmental stage as crucial factors that interact with the chronic stresses of postdivorce family life to produce short-and long-range impediments to the maturation of these vulnerable young people. There is a critical need to facilitate understanding and cooperation between the behavioral sciences and the legal profession on behalf of children in divorced families. The major research tasks relevant to enlightened public policy lie ahead.     

Friend or foe? Postdivorce hostility among recently divorced individuals

High levels of hostility often occur during and postdivorce and may significantly affect the quality of life, parent–child relationships, and social functioning of divorcees. Moreover, hostility may predict aggressive and violent behavior. This study sought to (a) compare average general hostility levels of a large sample of Danish divorcees to the norms of the general adult Danish population, (b) compare general hostility levels between male and female divorcees, and (c) investigate the explanatory value of various sociodemographic and divorce-related factors on postdivorce general hostility and whether these factors differ across gender. Cross-sectional baseline data (N = 1,856) from a larger randomized controlled trial study was used in this study. Normative data from a general sample of Danish adults (N = 2,040) was used for comparisons of hostility levels between our study sample and the Danish background population. This study found that male and female divorcees did not report significantly different hostility levels. However, participants reported significantly higher hostility levels postdivorce than the comparative Danish norm sample. Significant predictors of postdivorce hostility were lower age, lower educational level, infidelity as a reason for divorce, higher degree of postdivorce conflict, worse communication with the former spouse, the former spouse as the initiator of the divorce, and new partner status with neither divorcees having a new partner, or only the former spouse having a new partner. The predictive strength of the factors did not differ across gender. The findings may be especially relevant for interventions targeting problematic outcomes postdivorce (e.g., preventing aggressive behavior).     

Increasing the prevalence of successful children: The case for community intervention research

This paper makes a case for research on community interventions on child rearing. Sufficient evidence has accumulated about the development of children's problem behavior to justify evaluating efforts to reduce the prevalence of these problems in whole communities. The contextual risk factors for diverse child behavior problems are well understood, and interventions to ameliorate individual risk factors have been developed and evaluated. Because interventions with individual children have proven to be efficacious, it is now appropriate to direct energy toward reducing the prevalence of children with behavior problems. At the same time, existing interventions have limitations. Community interventions may be needed to modify the larger social context for families. This paper enumerates possible components of a community intervention to improve child-rearing outcomes. Existing evidence indicates that communities would benefit from making parent training and family support programs available to parents. Validated methods of identifying and remediating academic and behavioral problems in schools are available, but influencing schools to adopt them remains a problem. Community organizing could mobilize communities to allocate the resources necessary to support such parenting and schooling programs as well as encourage their adoption. Media campaigns could foster community support and directly influence parenting practices. Efforts to modify peer influences to use illicit substances have received empirical support; similar efforts may be relevant to preventing other problems. The development of a science of community interventions on child rearing is hampered by overreliance on randomized control trials. For this reason, two examples of time-series experimental evaluations of community intervention components are described here.     

Divorce therapy: an in-depth survey of therapists' views

In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 highly experienced therapists on the criteria of a constructive divorce, the obstacles to achieving such a divorce, and the strategies and tactics of divorce therapy. The primary criterion of a constructive divorce was the successful completion of the process of psychic separation and the protection of the welfare of minor children. Therapy may focus on the decision to get divorced and/or the negotiation of the terms of a divorce settlement. Three types of therapeutic strategies were identified: reflexive intervention by which the therapist orients himself to the marital problems and attempts to gain the trust and confidence of the partners; contextual interventions by which he tries to promote a climate conducive to decision-making; and substantive interventions intended to produce resolution on terms the therapist has come to believe are inevitable or necessary. The nascent state of divorce therapy as an area of therapeutic specialization is noted. The problem of diagnostic criteria for divorce, the relationship between therapists and lawyers, the nature and consequence of therapist impartiality, and the degree to which therapists should mediate the terms of divorce are considered central issues meriting further study.     

No regrets: Custodial mothers' accounts of the difficulties and benefits of divorce

This study examines the accounts of 80 divorced single mothers in order to consider various emotional processes involved in the mothers' postdivorce family reorganization. A qualitative analysis was conducted on written responses to an open-ended question. Concerns tended to center around how the divorce had affected the children as well as various difficulties associated with single parenting. Loss and guilt on the part of many mothers was tempered by positive attributions about how divorce actually gave way to greater personal happiness, better parent-child relationships, and more rewarding lives. Focusing on the benefits of divorce appeared to be an important means of coping with many of the problems inherent in single parenting. Implications for treatment are discussed from an ecological perspective which emphasizes the therapist's role in helping mothers to create contexts of support.This research was funded in part by grant number 9103 from the Women's Research Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.     

Father postdivorce well-being: an exploratory model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the psychological well-being of fathers following divorce. The theory postulated that father postdivorce well-being was related to father role clarity, role satisfaction, age, income, education level, custody arrangement, encouragement from others, time since divorce, and involvement in an intimate relationship following divorce. Participants were 94 fathers from a midwestern city who completed self-administered questionnaires. Data were assessed using path analytic techniques. Involvement in an intimate relationship was found to have the greatest influence on father postdivorce well-being. Role satisfaction had direct effects on father postdivorce well-being and was important as a mediating variable for 4 constructs within the model. The findings suggest that father well-being following divorce is a complex phenomenon, influenced by all of the model variables except income, education level, and time since divorce. Implications for preventive intervention strategies, based on risk factors identified in this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Father Postdivorce Well-Being: An Exploratory Model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the psychological well-being of fathers following divorce. The theory postulated that father postdivorce well-being was related to father role clarity, role satisfaction, age, income, education level, custody arrangement, encouragement from others, time since divorce, and involvement in an intimate relationship following divorce. Participants were 94 fathers from a midwestern city who completed self-administered questionnaires. Data were assessed using path analytic techniques. Involvement in an intimate relationship was found to have the greatest influence on father postdivorce well-being. Role satisfaction had direct effects on father postdivorce well-being and was important as a mediating variable for 4 constructs within the model. The findings suggest that father well-being following divorce is a complex phenomenon, influenced by all of the model variables except income, education level, and time since divorce. Implications for preventive intervention strategies, based on risk factors identified in this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Social support of children of divorce: Direct and stress buffering effects

This study examined the direct and stress-buffering effects of support from family adults, nonfamily adults, family children, and nonfamily children on the adjustment of 104 children of divorce. For children's reports of adjustment, significant stress-buffering (i.e., Stress x Support) interactions for support from family adults and support from nonfamily adults occurred. The lower the level of social support, the stronger the positive relation between stress and adjustment problems. In addition, at high levels of stress, children with high support from nonfamily and family adults reported fewer adjustment problems than did children with low support. However, at the lowest level of stress, children with high support from nonfamily adults were significantly more poorly adjusted than were children with low support. For parental reports of children's adjustment, support from family adults was marginally positively related to adjustment whereas support from nonfamily adults was inversely related to adjustment. Implications for intervention programs for children of divorce are discussed.     

Preventive intervention with latency-aged children of divorce: A replication study

This replication study assessed the efficacy of a school-based preventive intervention for latency-aged children of divorce. The Children of Divorce Intervention Program (CODIP) emphasizes support, identifying and expressing divorce-related feelings, training situationally relevant communication, problem solving, and anger control skills, and enhancing self-esteem. Fifty-four children of divorce participated in the 11-session program conducted in small groups. Their adjustment was contrasted at pre and post with that of demographically matched peers (N = 78) from intact families on teacher, parent, self-report, and group leader measures. Children of divorce were less well adjusted than their peers before the intervention. They improved significantly after the intervention, approaching youngsters from intact families in adjustment status. The replication data support CODIP's efficacy as a preventive alternative for children of divorce. Needed future development and research steps are considered.