A Rigorous Quasi‐Experimental Design to Evaluate the Causal Effect of a Mandatory Divorce Education Program

• Date: 01 January 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12131
• Published date: 01 January 2015

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES

A RIGOROUS QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN TO EVALUATE

THE CAUSAL EFFECT OF A MANDATORY DIVORCE

EDUCATION PROGRAM

Stephanie R. deLusé and Sanford L. Braver

All couples with minor children who filed for divorcewithin a specific 6-week period (N=191 couples) in one jurisdiction were

ordered to attend a divorce education program. The control group included about 20 couples randomly selected from each of

six 6-week intervals before and six 6-week intervals after the treatment interval (N=243 couples). Archival records were

searched for variables such as legal and residential custody award, visitation percentage, and relitigation. The impact of the

program was assessed by evaluating, for each variable, whether the data for program interval departed from the straight

(regression) line drawn through all the control group intervals. Only the visitation time awardsignificantly differed: 27.75% for

treatment couples and 22.46% for control couples.Analyses show that the father’s attendance at the program primarily accounts

for the difference.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

• There are considerable methodological weaknesses in most of the existing evaluations of divorcing parent education

programs.

• Stronger, more scientifically rigorous—and thus persuasive—designs are possible in court settings, such as the

regression discontinuity quasi-experimental design we feature here.

• Archival records, such as various court filings, are a rich and relatively untapped source of data.

• Being mandated to attend a single 2-hour divorcing parent education class caused an increase in the visitation time

award in divorce decrees.

• There is a disconnect between being mandated by a judge to attend a program and actual attendance.

Keywords: Divorce Education;Experimental Design;Parenting Program;Program Evaluation;Quasi-Experiment;Regres-

sion Discontinuity;Relitigation;Visitation

INTRODUCTION

Between 40% and 50% of marriages in the United States end in divorce (Cherlin, 2010). The

potential negative effects of divorce on minor children, including adjustment problems such as

childhood depression, conduct problems, and academic difficulties, have been well-reviewed else-

where (Amato, 2000; Clarke-Stewart & Brentano, 2006). Because the divorce process itself can be

fraught with potential conflict and stressful changes (Braver & Lamb, 2012), parents should benefit

from programs that prepare them for coping with factors such as the child’s adjustment and age-

appropriate communication about the divorce, as well as the potential economic hardship, new

involvement patterns, and parenting skills required of both the custodial and noncustodial parents

(Braver, Hipke, Ellman, & Sandler, 2004; Braver, Shapiro, & Goodman, 2006).

In response to that belief, divorcing parent education programs (DPEs) that address issues like

these emerged in the 1970s (Pollet & Lombreglia, 2008; Salem, Sandler, & Wolchik, 2013) and

experienced a rapid uptick in growth in the 1990s (Braver,Salem, Pearson, & DeLusé, 1996; Geasler

Correspondence: Stephanie.deLuse@asu.edu; Sanford.Braver@asu.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 53 No. 1, January 2015 66–78

© 2015 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts