Divorce mediation

Divorce mediation can be requested by parents in child custody disputes. Mediation can also be ordered by the court. The purpose of mediation is for the parents to reach an agreement.

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SBU Enquiry Service

Consists of structured literature searches to highlight studies that can address questions received by the SBU Enquiry Service from Swedish healthcare or social service providers. We assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews and when needed also quality and transferability of results in health economic studies. Relevant references are compiled by an SBU staff member, in consultation with an external expert when needed.

Question

What systematic reviews are there on divorce mediation for parents in child custody disputes?

Identified literature

No relevant systematic review was identified. There were, however, 11 primary studies identified [1–11]. The primary studies were not assessed for risk of bias.

References

  1. Ballard, R.H., Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Applegate, A.G., D`Onofrio B.M., & Bates, J.E. (2013). A randomized controlled trail of child-informed mediation. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 19, 271-281.
  2. Braver S.L., Sandler, I.N., Cohen Hita, L., & Wheeler L. A. (2016). A randomized comparative effectiveness trail of two court-connected programs for high-conflict families. Family Court Review, 54, 349-363.
  3. Daugherty Bailey, J, & Robbins, S. P. (2005). Couple Empowerment in Divorce: a comparison of mediatied and nonmediated outcomes. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 22, 453-472.
  4. Emery, R.E., Laumann-Billings, L., Waldron, M.C., Sbarra. D.A., & Dillon, P. Child custody mediation & litigation: custody, contact, and coparenting 12 years after initial dispute resolution. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 323-332.
  5. Holtzworth-Munroe, A.,, Connie., J B., Applegate, A.G., Adams, J.M., Rossi, F.S., Jiang, L.J., Tomlinson, C-S., & Hale, D.F. (2020). Intimate partner violence (IPV) and family dispute resolution: a randomized controlled trail comparing shuttle mediation, videoconferencing mediation, and litigation. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1-20.
  6. Rudd, B.N., Ogle, R.K., Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Applegate, A.G., & D`Onofrio B.M. (2015). Child-informed mediation study follow-up. Comparing the frequency of retiligation following different types of family mediation. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,1-6.
  7. Sbarra, D.A., & Emery, R.E. (2008). Deeper into divorce: using actor-partner analyses to explore systematic differences in coparenting conflict following custody dispute resolution. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 144-152.
  8. Pruett Kline, M., Ebling, R., & Cowan, P.A. (2011). Pathways from a US co-parenting intervention to legal outcomes. International Journal of Law, Policy, and the Family, 25, 24-45.
  9. McIntosh, J.E., Wells, Y.D., Smyth, B.M., & Long, C.M. (2008).  Child-focused and child-inclusive divorce mediation: comparative outcomes from a prospective study of postseparation adjustment. Family Court Review, 46, 105-124.
  10. McIntosh, J.E., & Tan, E.S. (2017).  Young children in divorce and separation: pilot study of a mediation-based co-parenting intervention. Family Court Review, 55, 329-344.
  11. Morris, M., Halford, W.K, & Petch, J. (2018). A randomized controlled trail comparing family mediation with and without motivational interviewing. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 269-272.
Published: Report no: ut202112 Registration no: SBU 2021/228

Literature search

Social Care Online via SCIE 12 December 2020

Divorce mediation

 Search termsItems found
Population: Skilsmässa/separation/konflikt om vårdnad
Intervention: Samarbetssamtal/medling
1. (divorce or custody or custodial OR postmarriage or postseparation or postmarital or postdivorce or "post marriage" or "post marital" or "post separation" or "parental separation" or "parental breakup" or "parental break up" or "marriage breakup" or "marriage break up" or "marital breakup" or "marital break up" or "marriage dissolution")
AND
(mediation or "cooperation talk" or "parent coordinator" or "dispute resolution" or "dispute management" or "dispute reduction" or "conflict resolution" or "conflict management" or "conflict reduction" or "no kids in the middle" or "refuse resist" or "family mediation" or "parental mediation" or "parent mediation")
113

ERIC, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, MEDLINE, MEDLINE with Full Text, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, APA PsycInfo, SocINDEX with Full Text, Academic Search Premier via ebsco.com 9 December 2020

Divorce mediation

The search result, usually found at the end of the documentation, forms the list of abstracts

AB = Abstract; TI = Title; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
 Search termsItems found
Population: Skilsmässa/separation/konflikt om vårdnad
1. TI ( divorc* or custod* OR postmarriage or postseparat* or postmarital or postdivorce ) OR TI ( ((post) N1 (marriage or marital or separat*)) ) OR TI ( ((parent*) N1 (separat* or break*)) ) OR TI ( ((marriage or marital) N1 (dissolut*)) ) OR TI (famil* N1 disput*) OR AB ( divorc* or custod* OR postmarriage or postseparat* or postmarital or postdivorce ) OR AB ( ((post) N1 (marriage or marital or separat*)) ) OR AB ( ((parent*) N1 (separat* or break*)) ) OR AB ( ((marriage or marital) N1 (dissolut*)) ) OR AB (famil* N1 disput*) 141,341
Intervention: Samarbetssamtal/medling
2. TI ( mediat* or "cooperation talk*" ) OR TI (parent* N1 coordinat*) OR TI ( ((dispute or conflict) N1 (resolut* or manag* or reduc*)) ) OR TI ( "Family mediat*" OR (parent* N1 mediat*) ) OR TI ( "no kids in the middle" or "refuse resist" ) OR AB ( mediat* or "cooperation talk*" ) OR AB (parent* N1 coordinat*) OR AB ( ((dispute or conflict) N1 (resolut* or manag* or reduc*)) ) OR AB ( "Family mediat*" OR (parent* N1 mediat*) ) OR AB ( "no kids in the middle" or "refuse resist" ) 3,767,183
Limits: publication year, language
3. Limiters - Published Date: 20000101-20201231, Language: - danish, english, norwegian, swedish  
Final 1 AND 2 AND 3 2,962
Page published