Pilot Study of an Interparental Conflict Intervention for Separating or Divorcing Parents

Pilot Study to Test Effects of a New Interparental Conflict Intervention for Separating or Divorcing Parents

This pilot study will evaluate a new intervention for parents who are separated or divorced and have been court ordered to participate in a program addressing interparental conflict. The intervention is designed to teach parents skills to reduce children's exposure to conflict between parents and support children's well-being. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the new intervention or an existing court-based program. The study will examine the feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and usability of the new intervention and its effects on interparental conflict, parents' use of protective skills, and children's mental health.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Interparental Conflict; Child Mental Health
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Family COMPASS; Behavioral: Families in Transition (FIT)

Detailed Description

This study is a randomized pilot trial of a new, scalable intervention for separating or divorcing parents experiencing interparental conflict. The intervention was developed by adapting components of existing evidence-based interventions using human-centered design methods. The intervention is designed to teach parents skills for reducing children's exposure to interparental conflict and protecting children's mental health and well-being.

Approximately 94 parents who are court ordered to participate in an intervention addressing interparental conflict will be randomly assigned to either the new intervention or an existing court-based program. The new intervention is expected to include an orientation session followed by three or four digital sessions. The pilot study will evaluate implementation outcomes, including feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and usability, as well as preliminary effects on interparental conflict and children's internalizing and externalizing problems. The study will also examine parents' use of skills intended to protect children from interparental conflict and interpersonal violence and parents' emotion-regulation skills.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 94
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Sharlene A Wolchik, PhD; Email: wolchik@asu.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Karey L O'Hara, PhD; Phone Number: 480-727-6136; Email: klohara@asu.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Tempe, Arizona, United States, 85287
      • Recruiting
      • Arizona State University
      • Contact: Karey L O'Hara, PhD; Phone Number: 480-727-3623; Email: klohara@asu.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 years or older
• Fluent in English
• Court ordered to attend an intervention to reduce interparental conflict

Exclusion Criteria: None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Family COMPASS; Participants receive Family COMPASS, a four-session parenting intervention for parents experiencing high levels of interparental conflict following separation or divorce.	Behavioral: Family COMPASS; Family COMPASS (Conflict Management through Purposeful Awareness, Strategies, and Support) is a manualized, trauma-informed parenting intervention designed to reduce children's exposure to interparental conflict following parental separation or divorce. The intervention consists of four highly structured, approximately 30-minute sessions delivered virtually or in person by trained personnel. It focuses on strengthening parents' emotion regulation, communication, co-parenting, conflict management, and safety planning skills.
Active Comparator: Families in Transition (FIT); Participants receive FIT, an existing 90-minute online parent education program designed to help separating or divorcing parents reduce interparental conflict and children's exposure to conflict.	Behavioral: Families in Transition (FIT); FIT is a 90-minute online parent education program developed by the Superior Court of Maricopa County in collaboration with the National Center for State Courts. The program includes four modules, a film, and interactive activities. It validates parents' difficult feelings toward their co-parent while emphasizing behavior change to protect children from interparental conflict. Content addresses the effects of interparental conflict on children, prioritizing children's needs, developing a child-focused vision for the future, and using practical strategies to reduce conflict behaviors.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child Anxiety Symptoms	Parent-reported child anxiety symptoms assessed using the Anxiety subscale of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-25 Parent Version (RCADS-25-P). The Anxiety subscale contains 15 items rated from 0 (Never) to 3 (Always). Raw scores range from 0 to 45, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptoms.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Child Depressive Symptoms	Parent-reported child depressive symptoms assessed using the Depression subscale of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-25 Parent Version (RCADS-25-P). The Depression subscale contains 10 items rated from 0 (Never) to 3 (Always). Raw scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptoms.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Child Irritability/Anger	Parent-reported child irritability and anger assessed using the irritability/anger item of the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure-Parent/Guardian-Rated Measure for Children Ages 6-17. The item is rated from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Nearly every day). Scores range from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating greater irritability/anger.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Child Attention Problems	Parent-reported child attention problems assessed using the attention item of the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure-Parent/Guardian-Rated Measure for Children Ages 6-17. The item is rated from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Nearly every day). Scores range from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating greater attention problems.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Interparental Conflict	Parent-reported interparental conflict assessed using the 13-item intensity and frequency subscales of the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale, adapted for parent report. Items are rated on a 3-point scale and appropriately reverse-scored. Using summed item scores coded from 0 to 2, total scores range from 0 to 26, with higher scores indicating greater interparental conflict.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Intervention Feasibility	Parent-reported feasibility assessed using the 4-item Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM). Items are rated from 1 (Completely disagree) to 5 (Completely agree), with scores ranging from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate greater perceived feasibility.	Approximately 30 days after program completion
Intervention Acceptability	Parent-reported acceptability assessed using the 4-item Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM). Items are rated from 1 (Completely disagree) to 5 (Completely agree), with scores ranging from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate greater acceptability.	Approximately 30 days after program completion
Intervention Appropriateness	Parent-reported appropriateness assessed using the 4-item Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM). Items are rated from 1 (Completely disagree) to 5 (Completely agree), with scores ranging from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate greater perceived appropriateness.	Approximately 30 days after program completion
Intervention Usability	Parent-reported intervention usability assessed using the 10-item Intervention Usability Scale (IUS). Items are rated on a 5-point agreement scale. Positively and negatively worded items are scored according to standard IUS scoring procedures, and the summed score is multiplied by 2.5. Total scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater perceived intervention usability.	Approximately 30 days after program completion

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Emotion Regulation Difficulties	Parent-reported difficulties in emotion regulation assessed using the 16-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-SF). Items are rated from 1 (Almost Never) to 5 (Almost Always), with total scores ranging from 16 to 80. Higher scores indicate greater difficulties with emotion regulation.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Confidence in Making a Safety Plan for Self	Parent-reported confidence in the ability to make a safety plan for oneself, assessed using a single-item rating scale ranging from 0 (Not at all confident) to 100 (Completely confident). Higher scores indicate greater confidence in safety planning.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion
Confidence in Making a Safety Plan for Children	Parent-reported confidence in the ability to make a safety plan for one's child or children, assessed using a single-item rating scale ranging from 0 (Not at all confident) to 100 (Completely confident). Higher scores indicate greater confidence in safety planning.	Baseline and 30 days after program completion

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Arizona State University
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 28, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): September 11, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 11, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Parent Education; Preventive Intervention; Divorce; Parenting Intervention; Parental Separation; Interparental Conflict; Co-Parenting; Children of Divorced Parents; Child Internalizing Problems; Child Externalizing Problems; Family Court
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00015304; R34MH126052 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No