TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of the dads for life intervention on interparental conflict and coparenting in the two years after divorce
AU - Cookston, Jeffrey T.
AU - Braver, Sanford L.
AU - Griffin, William
AU - De Lusé, Stephanie R.
AU - Miles, Jonathan C.
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - The ability of parents to forge harmonious coparenting relationships following divorce is an important predictor of their children's long-term well-being. However, there is no convincing evidence that this relationship can be modified through intervention. A preventive intervention that we developed, Dads for Life (DFL), which targeted noncustodial parents as participants, has previously been shown in a randomized field trial to favorably impact child well-being. We explore here whether it also has an impact on mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting and interparental conflict in the 2 years following divorce. Results of the latent growth curve models we evaluated showed that both mothers and fathers reported less conflict when the father participated in DFL as compared with controls. For the fathers, perceptions of coparenting did not change over time in either the DFL or control conditions. Alternatively, mothers' perceptions of support declined over time in the control group, whereas those whose ex-husbands participated in the DFL program reported significant positive growth change toward healthier coparenting. The positive findings for mothers' reports are particularly compelling because mothers were not the participants, and thus common alternative explanations are ruled out. The DFL intervention, then, offers courts a promising program to improve families' functioning after divorce.
AB - The ability of parents to forge harmonious coparenting relationships following divorce is an important predictor of their children's long-term well-being. However, there is no convincing evidence that this relationship can be modified through intervention. A preventive intervention that we developed, Dads for Life (DFL), which targeted noncustodial parents as participants, has previously been shown in a randomized field trial to favorably impact child well-being. We explore here whether it also has an impact on mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting and interparental conflict in the 2 years following divorce. Results of the latent growth curve models we evaluated showed that both mothers and fathers reported less conflict when the father participated in DFL as compared with controls. For the fathers, perceptions of coparenting did not change over time in either the DFL or control conditions. Alternatively, mothers' perceptions of support declined over time in the control group, whereas those whose ex-husbands participated in the DFL program reported significant positive growth change toward healthier coparenting. The positive findings for mothers' reports are particularly compelling because mothers were not the participants, and thus common alternative explanations are ruled out. The DFL intervention, then, offers courts a promising program to improve families' functioning after divorce.
KW - Coparenting
KW - Divorce
KW - Divorcing parent education
KW - Interparental conflict
KW - Latent curve modeling
KW - Noncustodial parent
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846798476&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33846798476&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00196.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00196.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 17375733
AN - SCOPUS:33846798476
SN - 0014-7370
VL - 46
SP - 123
EP - 137
JO - Family Process
JF - Family Process
IS - 1
ER -