Randomized Control Trial of the Co-Parenting for Resilience Program

NCT06840431 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 2 other identifiers: Oklahoma State University1R15HD112895-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Because parental divorce has been linked to a significant increase in mental health diagnoses among children, it is important to develop effective interventions that reduce the negative impact of divorce on children. This study assesses the efficacy of the Co-Parenting for Resilience (CPR) resilience program by randomly assigning divorcing individuals to three different forms of the intervention to test whether one or both of versions of CPR are better than reading a self-help book, and whether an in-person version of CPR is more effective than an online version. The three conditions or versions are: 1) an in-person version of CPR taught by a trained non-clinician, 2) an asynchronous fully online version of CPR, and 3) a group that simply reads a self-help book and responds to a knowledge check to ensure the material was read.

Conditions

Child Wellbeing

Keywords

divorce; child wellbeing; co-parenting

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

  The SDQ is a widely used measure consisting of 25 items that make up five subscales on which parents report their child's emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behavior. The SDQ has been normed on children from 4-17 years of age and provides a total child difficulty score and a score for each of the five subscales. For our primary analyses of child adjustment, we will use the total child difficulty score.

  Baseline, 3-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up

Study Arms (3)

In person condition

EXPERIMENTAL

This condition tests program effects when delivered by a trained non-clinical facilitator.

Behavioral: in-person condition

online condition

EXPERIMENTAL

This condition tests program effects when the program is delivered asynchronously online

Behavioral: online condition

Self-help book with quiz

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

This condition serves as a placebo control comparing the intervention components to a knowledge only condition.

Behavioral: self-help condition

Interventions

in-person condition BEHAVIORAL

participants will receive program components in a classroom setting with a trained non-clinical facilitator.

In person condition

online condition BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive program components in an asynchronous online format.

online condition

self-help condition BEHAVIORAL

Participants will read a self-help book on how to manage their divorce and take a quiz to ensure that the book has been read.

Self-help book with quiz

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• One adult member of a dyad filing for a divorce or legal separation (e.g., non-married couples) in Oklahoma County with a biological minor child aged 4-10,
• Being an English or Spanish speaker,
• Having internet access necessary for the online group (necessary for this randomized trial.
• In the event participants have more than one child, they will be asked to report on their oldest child with the person they are divorcing who is age 10 or under. Focus on the oldest child counterbalances the age distribution of children expected per our preliminary data, thereby facilitating a test of age differences in treatment effects.

You may not qualify if:

• Parents under the age of 18,
• Parents who do not consent to randomization,
• Parents who are illiterate.
• Only one member of the dyad will be allowed in the study.
• We also exclude parents for whom the target child is not the biological child of both parents. Stepfamilies, adoptive families, grandparents raising grandchildren, and other family types have dynamics not directly comparable to families with two biological parents and is beyond the scope of this study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): collaborator
• Oklahoma State University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Oklahoma State University

Stillwater, Oklahoma, 74078, United States

Location

Related Publications (13)

• Cox, R.B., et al., Hope, Stress, and Post-Divorce Child Adjustment: Development and Evaluation of the Co-Parenting for Resilience Program. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 2021. 62(2): p. 144-163.

  BACKGROUND

• Hill, R., Generic features of families under stress. Social Casework, 1958. 39(2-3): p. 139-150.

  BACKGROUND

• Hill, R., Families under stress: Adjustment to the crises of war separation and return. 1949.

  BACKGROUND

• Miller, W.R. and S. Rollnick, Motivational interviewing: Helping people change. 2012: Guilford press.

  BACKGROUND

• Fisch, R., J. Weakland, and L. Segal, The tactics of change: Doing therapy briefly. 1982, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  BACKGROUND

• Sigal A, Sandler I, Wolchik S, Braver S. Do Parent Education Programs Promote Healthy Post-Divorce Parenting? Critical Distinctions and a Review of the Evidence. Fam Court Rev. 2011 Jan;49(1):120-139. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-1617.2010.01357.x.

  PMID: 21552360 BACKGROUND

• Kierstead, S., Parent education programs in family courts: Balancing autonomy and state intervention. Family Court Review, 2011. 49(1): p. 140-154.

  BACKGROUND

• Pollet, S.L. and M. Lombreglia, A nationwide survey of mandatory parent education. Family Court Review, 2008. 46(2): p. 375-394.

  BACKGROUND

• Dunn J, Davies LC, O'Connor TG, Sturgess W. Family lives and friendships: the perspectives of children in step-, single-parent, and nonstep families. J Fam Psychol. 2001 Jun;15(2):272-87.

  PMID: 11458633 BACKGROUND

• Sandler I, Gunn H, Mazza G, Tein JY, Wolchik S, Berkel C, Jones S, Porter M. Effects of a Program to Promote High Quality Parenting by Divorced and Separated Fathers. Prev Sci. 2018 May;19(4):538-548. doi: 10.1007/s11121-017-0841-x.

  PMID: 28913663 BACKGROUND

• Amato, P.R., The consequences of divorce for adults and children: An update. Drustvena istrazivanja, 2014. 23(1): p. 5-24.

  BACKGROUND

• Andersson, G., E. Thomson, and A. Duntava, Life-table representations of family dynamics in the 21st century. Demographic Research, 2017. 37: p. 1081-1230.

  BACKGROUND

• Vezzetti VC. New approaches to divorce with children: A problem of public health. Health Psychol Open. 2016 Nov 15;3(2):2055102916678105. doi: 10.1177/2055102916678105. eCollection 2016 Jul.

  PMID: 28070408 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Ronald B Cox, PhD

  Oklahoma State University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Human Develop and Family Science

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 17, 2025
• First Posted: February 21, 2025
• Study Start: July 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Last Updated: March 4, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)