CHILD‐FOCUSED AND CHILD‐INCLUSIVE DIVORCE MEDIATION: COMPARATIVE OUTCOMES FROM A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF POSTSEPARATION ADJUSTMENT

Jennifer E. McIntosh · Yvonne Wells · Bruce Smyth · Caroline M. Long

122 citations0/0 files storedFamily Court Review

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Family Dynamics and Relationships Family and Matrimonial Law Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics

Abstract

This study compared outcomes over 1 year for two groups of separated parents, who attended two different forms of brief therapeutic mediation for entrenched parenting disputes. The two interventions each targeted psychological resolution of parental conflict, enhanced parental reflective function, and associated reduction of distress for their children. The child‐focused (CF) intervention actively supported parents to consider the needs of their children, but without any direct involvement of the children, while the child‐inclusive (CI) intervention incorporated separate consultation by a specialist with the children in each family, and consideration of their concerns with parents in the mediation forum. Repeated measures at baseline, 3 months, and 1 year postintervention explored changes over time and across treatments in conflict management, subjective distress, and relationship quality for all family members. Enduring reduction in levels of conflict and improved management of disputes, as reported by parents and children, occurred for both treatment groups in the year after mediation. The CI intervention had several impacts not evident in the other treatment group, related to relationship improvements and psychological well‐being. These effects were strongest for fathers and children. Agreements reached by the CI group were significantly more durable, and the parents in this group were half as likely to instigate new litigation over parenting matters in the year after mediation as were the CF parents. The article explores the potential of CI divorce mediation to not only safely include many children in family law matters related to them, but also to promote their developmental recovery from high‐conflict separation, through enhanced emotional availability of their parents.

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References

1997The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Research Note 2005Parental reflective functioning: An introduction 2002Effects of marital conflict on children: recent advances and emerging themes in process‐oriented research 2001The Mental Health of Young People in Australia: Key Findings from the Child and Adolescent Component of the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being 1992Assessing Marital Conflict from the Child's Perspective: The Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale 1991Caught Between Parents: Adolescents' Experience in Divorced Homes 2003Children's Adjustment Following Divorce: Risk and Resilience Perspectives 2000Children's Adjustment in Conflicted Marriage and Divorce: A Decade Review of Research

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2011ATTACHMENT THEORY AND RESEARCH: OVERVIEW WITH SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS TO CHILD CUSTODY 2008Cautionary notes on the shared care of children in conflicted parental separation 2009LEGISLATING FOR SHARED PARENTING: EXPLORING SOME UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS 2009A 5-year retrospective of post-separation shared care research in Australia

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