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Divorce mediation: the impact of mediation on the psychological well‐being of children and parents
Author(s) -
Walton Lisa,
Oliver Chris,
Griffin Christine
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of community and applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1099-1298
pISSN - 1052-9284
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1298(199901/02)9:1<35::aid-casp501>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - mediation , psychology , psychological distress , distress , developmental psychology , negotiation , psychological control , clinical psychology , mental health , psychotherapist , political science , law
This study evaluated levels of psychological distress experienced by children (aged 4–16) and parents at the beginning of and one month after mediation for child‐related disputes. In contrast to previous research, this study employed both child‐ and parent‐reports of child outcome. Mediation was associated with reductions in child‐reported, though not parent‐reported, child psychological distress and with reductions in parent‐reports of their own psychological distress. The negotiation of successful agreements in mediation was not related to improved psychological well‐being of family members. The difficulties encountered (i.e. small numbers, low response rate) render the results tentative. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.