Young Children in Divorce and Separation: Pilot Study of a Mediation‐Based Co‐Parenting Intervention

• Author: Jennifer E. McIntosh,Evelyn S. Tan
• Date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12291
• Published date: 01 July 2017

ARTICLES

YOUNG CHILDREN IN DIVORCE AND SEPARATION: PILOT STUDY

OF A MEDIATION-BASED CO-PARENTING INTERVENTION

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Jennifer E. McIntosh and Evelyn S. Tan

This article reports on a cluster randomized pilot study of a mediation-based intervention for separated parents of very young

children, Young Children in Divorce and Separation (YCIDS). The control group intervention was “Mediation plus Reading.”

Participants were separated parents attending mediation over a co-parenting disputeconcerning a child under the age of 5 years

(n533 cases). Nine of the 16 key child and parent outcomes were significantly better for the intervention group, with the

remainder nonsignificant between groups. Mediators reported 35 per cent lower referral on to legal action for YCIDS cases fol-

lowing mediation. Implementation complexities of the YCIDS program led to the development of an online intervention for-

mat, now the subject of a further study. Further implications of this pilot study are discussed.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

To date, no education interventions designed for separated parents of young children have been systematically exam-

ined for mediation, legal, parent, or child outcomes.

We developed Young Children in Divorce and Separation (YCIDS), an education intervention targeting parent aware-

ness of infant neurological and social-emotional development and implications for postseparation co-parenting.

A cluster randomized trial, embedded within mediation services, was conducted to compare a “Mediation plus

Reading” (MR) treatment to a “Mediation plus Reading plus YCIDS intervention” treatment.

The YCIDS intervention group reported far lower rates of legal action postmediation and significant gains on 9 of 16

key infant and co-parenting outcomes.

Some implementation drawbacks of this two-person intervention were identified and led to the development of an

online version with flexible applications for group and individual use. This is now the subject of a further independent

cluster randomized trial.

Keywords: Children; Divorce; Family Law; Infant; Intervention. Mediation; Parent Education; Randomized Trial; and

Separation.

INTRODUCTION

Co-parenting an infant or very young child after separation involves complex developmental con-

siderations, and disputes over the best way to go about this are common in family law. Vulnerabilities

of infants and toddlers to chronic and acute disruptions in parenting responsiveness before and after

separation are well documented (Lucas, Nicholson, & Erbas, 2013; Weaver & Schofield, 2015).

Agreement is widespread on the potentially enduring consequences for young children and with this

the need to ensure “that essential components of early development are not jeopardized by the post

separation parenting arrangement” (Pruett, McIntosh, & Kelly, 2014, p. 241). Long ago, McKinnon

and Wallerstein (1989) documented the special needs of parents, who come to this arrangement

beset with disappointment, sorrow, anger, and a host of other crisis-engendered feelings that inhibit their

capacity to create psychological solutions at this critical time. Young children pose particular problems

because they need stability, continuity, and protection, because they are unable to verbalize their own

needs and wishes in ways that many parents can comprehend, and because their care requires frequent

communication and accord between the parents (p.177).

Correspondence: Jennifer.mcintosh@deakin.edu.au

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 55 No. 3, July 2017 329–344

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C2017 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts

Nearly three decades later, tailored education and intervention support for separating parents of very

young children remain scant.

EMPIRICAL AND LEGISLATIVE GUIDANCE REGARDING INFANT CARE

Legislative direction for separated parents of young children varies across states and countries

(Smyth, McIntosh, Emery, & Higgs Howarth, 2016). Some specify a preference or a presumption for

shared parenting time, but give no specific provisions for infants and preschoolers. The absence of

legislative guidance is not surprising given the equivalent dearth of empirical knowledge available to

inform it. A systematic review of peer-reviewed original quantitative studies of child well-being

within an explicitly defined shared-time threshold was conducted by Smyth et al. (2016). The review

concluded that significant doubt remains with respect to outcomes for very young children who expe-

rience parental separation within the first 5 years of their lives. While the two prospective cohort

studies of young children reported in the review suggested that parenting time has particular develop-

mental challenges for infants and toddlers, contextual factors (e.g., parental conflict, socioeconomic

status, child-specific factors, etc.) also tempered children’s well-being. The review noted that signifi-

cant developmental change can occur in a short space of time. Prospective cohort studies that might

reveal underlying patterns amid complex covariates remain limited to a handful of studies (e.g.,

Robbers et al., 2011). Accordingly, the body of research to date about infant and preschool outcomes

in divorce remains too small to adequately inform policy and too broad to inform decision making in

the individual case.

When empirical science fails to shed adequate light on the resolution of a public health problem,

practitioners turn to theory for guidance. Pruett et al. (2014) described attachment security and joint

parental involvement as mutually reinforcing constituents of a triadic secure base for infants after

separation, and a companion paper (McIntosh, Pruett, & Kelly, 2014) offered a theoretically

grounded set of guidelines for determining overnights.

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Beyond this, developmental guidance, sensi-

tive to the individual context of parenting disputes, remains scant.

PROGRAMMATIC GUIDANCE

Dispute resolution and court services remain opportune structures for educational and therapeutic inter-

ventions, reaching vulnerable families who may not otherwise access support services. Within these struc-

tures, postseparation interventions targeting behavioral change and improved self-governance are

dominant, reflecting the significant variance accounted for in children’s outcomes by co-parenting conflict.

Parenting education programs are the briefest of the available interventions. They generally aim

to inform parents about the impact of divorce and conflict on children and provide information and/

or skills to reduce destructive divorce-related parent behaviors. Such programs have been widespread

for some time (e.g., Children in the Middle, Arbuthnot & Gordon, 1996) and continue to evolve

(e.g., Family Transitions Triple P, Stallman & Sanders, 2014).

A meta-analytic review (Fackrell, Hawkins, & Kay, 2011) examined the effectiveness of brief court-

affiliated divorcing parents education programs (DPEs). Overall, those who participated in DPEs were

about 50% better off, compared to those who did not participate in program outcomes such as co-

parenting conflict, parent–child relationships, child well-being, parent well-being, and relitigation. Diver-

sity in program content, timing, and dosage was varied, and most studies lacked a control group to sup-

port the validity of findings. More recently, random control multisession intervention trials are emerging

for separated parents of school-aged children (e.g., Braver, Sandler, Cohen Hita, & Wheeler, 2016).

EDUCATION PROGRAMSFOR SEPARATED PARENTS OFVERY YOUNG CHILDREN

A review of the literature was undertaken to systematically scope all divorce-specific education

interventions for parents with children under 5 years of age. The following databases were used:

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