A methodological and substantive review of intervention outcome studies for families undergoing divorce.

Recently, many interventions have been designed to help family members who are adjusting to divorce. This article reviews 15 studies that included both a treatment and a control group (7 adult and 8 child intervention studies). First, reports were examined according to a methodological checklist. Research in this area is at a very preliminary stage, and methodologically sophisticated studies are not the norm. Second, psychometric adequacy of the measures used was examined. The majority of investigators used psychometrically sound measures; however, it was rare for researchers to use only well-validated measures. Third, findings revealed that group interventions for children have produced only modest gains. Effect sizes reported in adult interventions are comparable to those found in the adult psychotherapy literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)