Short Preventive Intervention Improves Parents’ Perceived Support and Knowledge after Divorce: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

AbstractWorldwide, parental divorce and separation rates are high. These include impactful experiences to all involved, posing risks on well-being and functioning of parents and their children, and leading to increased professional care seeking. The Dutch ‘Divorce ATLAS’ training aims at informing and empowering parents after divorce or separation. The intervention offers preventive support and psychoeducation in a 2-sessions group program. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of Divorce ATLAS for parents in the Dutch setting. We performed a quasi-experimental study in which we compared parents participating in Divorce ATLAS groups (n = 187) and parents on a waiting list for online support (n = 111). Outcomes included well-being of parents and their children, parental sense of competence and social support, and children’s prosocial behavior. We performed regression analyses to assess differences in outcomes between intervention and control group. Additionally, we measured and reported parental knowledge and trigger to act after the intervention. As compared with routine family support of parents in the control group, the Divorce ATLAS group intervention led to increases in parents’ sense of parenting incompetence (Hedges’ g = 0.19), and in perceived social support (Hedges’ g = 0.23). Moreover, most parents indicated that Divorce ATLAS had increased their knowledge and had triggered them to act accordingly. Hence, the increased sense of parenting incompetence in the intervention group may be due to increased participants’ awareness of their parenting behaviors. In sum, Divorce ATLAS is promising for educating and supporting parents after divorce.