Evaluation of court-initiated randomized controlled trial of online parent programs for divorcing and separating parents.

We conducted an evaluation of a court-initiated randomized controlled trial comparing outcomes for parents assigned to either a no-program control group or one of two online parenting programs-Two Families Now (TFN) or Children in Between (CIB)-among 221 parents in initial divorce or separation court cases. We gathered parent report measures of family functioning at study entry, completion of program, and 1-year following study entry. We also gathered and coded court records to capture the content of the document resolving issues and occurrence of relitigation in the following year.

Lessons for a COVID-19 era: Barriers and facilitators to court ordered online parenting programs for divorcing and separating parents.

Family courts are increasingly interested in online parenting programs for divorcing and separating parents, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To our knowledge, no previous study has evaluated the barriers to and facilitators of parent participation in these programs for family law cases. We interviewed 61 parents in the midst of family law cases regarding their perspectives.

Screening for Intimate Partner Violence in Family Mediation: An Examination of Multiple Methodological Approaches Using Item Response Theory.

Many divorcing/separating parties seeking mediation to resolve family-related issues report intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization from the other party in the case. It is imperative that mediation staff screen parties for IPV so they can make informed decisions regarding how to proceed with mediation. Existing IPV screens for mediation have significant limitations.

Mothers' Experience of Intimate Partner Violence and Subsequent Offspring Attachment Security Ages 1-5 Years: A Meta-Analysis.

Attachment status in early childhood is a key yet modifiable contributor to the development of social-emotional competence. The security and organization of the infant-mother attachment bond is particularly susceptible to stressors in the caregiving environment. While the impacts of normative interparental conflict on infant attachment are increasingly understood, the potentially unique place of intimate partner violence (IPV) in this pathway has been under-researched.

Parental relationship dissolution and child development: the role of child sleep quality.

We utilized the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing longitudinal dataset to evaluate associations among a maternal relationship dissolution, childhood sleep, and child development, specifically externalizing and internalizing symptoms, attention and social difficulties, as well as cognitive ability, when children were ages 5 (n = 3590) and 9 (n = 3062). A maternal relationship dissolution was related to poorer child sleep quality at ages 5 and 9. There was evidence of an indirect relation from a maternal relationship dissolution to child development through poor sleep quality when the child was 5 and 9 years old.