In choosing a set of materials for a divorce education program, as with any intervention program, it is critical that one have confidence in both the appeal of the materials for the clients, as well as in the effectiveness of the materials. It would be a waste of scarce resources, as well as clients' time, to have a well-liked program which doesn't teach new skills and behaviors, or an effective program which parents dislike.
We at the Center for Divorce Education take these concerns very seriously. We are constantly researching various aspects of our programs, and using the results of our studies to improve our materials. While there are several divorce education programs available, and many videos, few have ever been rigorously evaluated, and none are more effective than Children in the Middle.
Briefly summarized to the right are several outcome studies not only for Children in the Middle but also for After the Storm. Contact us if you would like further information or updates.
A recent national survey (Geasler & Blaisure, 1999) has shown that nearly half of all counties in the U.S. now provide some form of education program for divorcing parents. This represents a near tripling in number of programs over the 1994 survey, and indicates a rapidly growing interest in providing a promising intervention fo...More »
Parent education for separating parents with children is conducted widely internationally but not currently available in New Zealand. This project, initiated by the Auckland Family Courts Association, involved the development and evaluation of a pilot education programme entitled 'Children in the Middle' at Auckland's North Shor...More »
Dr. Don Gordon and his Ohio University colleague Jack Arbuthnot created a commercially available standardized program called After the Storm (AtS), after the West Virginia Supreme Court asked them to develop a course for high conflict divorcing/divorced couples. Their goal was to educate separated parents on the causes of anger ...More »
A three to nine month follow-up evaluation was conducted with a random sample of participants in a four-hour mandated parent education program for divorcing parents in a Southern state. The 345 respondents reported a reduction in nine of ten behaviors associated with putting children in the middle of their parents’ conflicts but...More »
The Journal of Extension reviewed Children in the Middle and found it meets all their evaluation criteria for an evidence and research-based program. They conclude: "Cooperative Extension agents may want to consider advocating for Children in the Middle as the program of choice where divorcing couples are mandated to divorce edu...More »
This chapter reviews the need for and common assumptions underlying educational interventions for both parents and children in families of divorce. It also reviews the outcomes of evaluation studies conducted to date. The chapter concludes that although most efforts are currently sponsored by courts or social service agencies, t...More »