Abstract
In the United States, roughly 50% of marriages end in divorce [Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2022]. Approximately 50% of divorcing couples need to consider minor aged children. Divorce is distressing for children and has far-reaching deleterious consequences into adulthood (i.e., generational divorce; Amato, 2000; Amato, 2014; Amato & Booth, 2001; Amato & Patterson, 2017). Family law, divorce mediation, and other entities have considered the benefits of programs for divorcing families. However, there is a lack of cohesion as to the effectiveness of such programs, namely considering children’s developmental needs (Sanders, 2007). The current project, a prevention program for divorcing families, considers the complex nature of divorce, factors to offset negative effects to children developmentally, and builds competent communication skills in the family system.
The aim of the program is to facilitate and establish healthier communication patterns within divorcing families. It is five-weeks geared toward building competent communication. There are activities and take-home exercises for each section of the program to allow the divorcing couple to practice and apply competent communication lessons in their daily lives. The program’s culminating experience is the creation of a parenting plan to bring the children into the conversation of divorce while validating the children’s lived experience and developmental needs. The program includes a 6-month follow-up questionnaire for assessment purposes. Past interventions and programs have lacked assessment and evaluation methods (Cowan & Cowan, 2002; Baucom et al., 2006). The current project strives to close efficacy gaps in divorce education by including assessment and evaluation.