Preventive Group Training Improves Children’s Outcomes after Divorce: A Dutch Quasi-experimental Study

Worldwide, many children experience parental separation and divorce. This has a significant impact on their well-being, and emotional and behavioral functioning, and calls for prevention. To assess the effects of the Children of Divorce Intervention Program in the Netherlands (CODIP-NL) on 6- to 8-y...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child and family studies 2022-04, Vol.31 (4), p.1069-1078
Main Authors: Klein Velderman, Mariska, van Dommelen, Paula, Pannebakker, Fieke D., Reijneveld, Sijmen A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior problems
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Child and School Psychology
Children & youth
Control Groups
Divorce
Elementary School Students
Elementary schools
Emotional well being
Families & family life
Intervention
Marital separation
Marriage
Mothers
Original Paper
Parents & parenting
Pretests Posttests
Prevention
Psychology
Quasi-experimental methods
Social Sciences
Sociology
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Summary:Worldwide, many children experience parental separation and divorce. This has a significant impact on their well-being, and emotional and behavioral functioning, and calls for prevention. To assess the effects of the Children of Divorce Intervention Program in the Netherlands (CODIP-NL) on 6- to 8-year-olds, we performed a quasi-experimental effect study. The study compared children receiving CODIP-NL (intervention: I, n  = 104), children not receiving CODIP-NL but having divorced parents (divorced control: DC, n  = 37), and children belonging to non-divorced families (non-divorced control: NDC, n  = 138). Outcomes pertained to children’s positive functioning, emotional and behavioral problems, and well-being. We assessed pre- to post-test differences in change in mother-reported outcomes between the intervention and control groups, and pre- to post-test differences in group leader reports. The intervention led to increases in mother-reported positive functioning ( d  = 0.97 I vs. DC; d  = 1.04 I vs. NDC), and well-being ( d  = 1.00 I vs. DC; d  = 0.84 I vs. NDC). Mother-reported child emotional and behavioral problems decreased after participation (total difficulties, d  = 0.73 I vs. DC; d  = 0.49 I vs. NDC). Group leader-reported pre- to post-test differences ( p  ≤ 0.001) pointed in the same directions. Findings support further implementation of CODIP to support children’s positive functioning and well-being, and to decrease emotional and behavioral problems after their parents’ divorce. Highlights The high prevalence of parental divorce and its high risks for child well-being and functioning urgently call for prevention of problems for these children and support as they adapt to the divorce. Effective intervention programs are relatively rare. One of the few is the Children of Divorce Intervention Program (CODIP), aimed at preventing divorce-related problems in primary school children. Evidence is limited regarding its effects outside the US. This study in the Netherlands showed that CODIP-NL effectively promotes the emotional well-being and positive functioning of young children involved in parental divorce, and reduces their emotional and behavioral problems. These findings support wider implementation of CODIP to effectively strengthen children’s adaptation to parental divorce.
ISSN:1062-1024
1573-2843
DOI:10.1007/s10826-021-02220-x