Enhancing daily affect in youth experiencing high‐conflict parental divorce: A multiple baseline trial of an online prevention program. (8th June 2022) - O′Hara, Karey L.
Abstract: This study investigated the effects of a highly interactive, online cognitive‐behavioral youth coping program: Children of Divorce‐Coping with Divorce (CoD‐CoD; Boring et al., 2015) on children exposed to high levels of interparental conflict (IPC). A multiple‐baseline experimental design ( N = 9) evaluated within‐subject intervention effects on change in daily positive and negative affect before, during, and after the intervention (nobservations = 462). Participants were youth ages 11–16 who reported high exposure to IPC and whose parents had filed for divorce or parenting plan determinations in the prior year. A significant interaction effect indicated change in positive affect, but not negative affect, between the intervention and baseline phases. Positive affect linearly decreased during the baseline phase and flattened during the intervention phase. Results indicate that CoD‐CoD was effective in interrupting a decline in youth‐reported positive affect in a high‐IPC sample, which may indicate a buffering effect against depression. Critical future directions include conducting large‐scale randomized trials with children from high‐IPC families to assess for whom the program is effective and assess long‐term effects across a broad range of important outcomes. Key points: One of the most well‐documented risk factors that predicts the development of youth mental health problems after parental separation/divorce is exposure to continuing high levels of interparental conflict. Adaptive coping is a modifiable protective factor for youth, and thus, it is to evaluate interventions that teach adaptive coping strategies to youth who are exposed to post‐ separation/divorce interparental conflict. An online coping program, Children of Divorce—Coping with Divorce (CoD‐CoD) interrupted an average decline in daily positive affect (e.g., feeling happy, energetic, calm), but had no effect on daily negative affect (e.g., feeling sad, angry, upset) in a sample of youth exposed to high‐conflict divorce. Based on the results of the two existing experimental trials, CoD‐CoD may be considered a promising program to reduce adjustment problems for children from separated/divorced families including those experiencing high levels of IPC.