USE OF EDUCATIONAL-MATERIALS TO MODIFY STRESSFUL BEHAVIORS IN POSTDIVORCE PARENTING

A 32-page educational booklet was mailed to half of all parents filing for divorce in one urban domestic relations court over a la-week peri od. A total of 358 primarily lower-middle class intervention and wait- list control parents were interviewed by telephone approximately three months post-filing. Mothers in the treatment group reported greater r eduction of loyalty conflict behaviors and increased encouragement of child-father involvement. No differences were observed between interve ntion and control for either mothers' willingness to share responsibil ity or in rate of conveyance to children of interparental conflict and personal distress. No differences were observed for father behaviors. Children exhibiting greater internalizing and externalizing behaviors on the Child Behavior Checklist (Parents) had mothers who reported ex periencing greater interpersonal conflict and personal distress, and m ore often spoke of their difficulties to their children. A one-year fo llow-up revealed that intervention parents were more likely to communi cate positively with their children about their other parent, and that nonresidential parents had greater access to their children than pare nts in the control conditions. The implications for this change in red ucing stress in children of divorce are discussed.