Peer-reviewed article
Exploring interventions to support child well-being after parental divorce: A scoping review
Sahar Esmaeili, Beth Archer‐Kuhn, Maryam Latifian ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examines interventions designed to support children's well-being following parental divorce. The authors systematically reviewed 23 studies and found that most interventions target known risk factors like parenting difficulties and family conflict. However, the review identifies significant gaps in the literature, including a lack of rigorous long-term evaluations and limited attention to children's own perspectives on these interventions.
Key points
- Most interventions focus on mediators of risk such as parenting difficulties and family conflict
- Effective co-parenting and family dynamics are highlighted as important factors
- There is a notable scarcity of rigorous evaluations assessing long-term effectiveness
- Limited research on interventions across diverse cultural and temporal contexts
- Children's perspectives are largely absent from existing program evaluations
Limitations
As a scoping review, this document provides an overview of the field rather than definitive evidence about which interventions work. The document does not evaluate specific interventions with outcome data, limiting what we can conclude about effectiveness for particular child populations or specific well-being outcomes.
Abstract
Parental separation and divorce are common family transitions that can affect children’s emotional, social, and developmental well-being. These challenges are particularly pronounced in high-conflict separations, especially when disputes escalate into judicial proceedings, where prolonged parental conflict and litigation may heighten risks for children. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of interventions designed to enhance the well-being of children affected by parental divorce. Using a scoping review methodology, we systematically examined the existing literature on programs targeting child well-being following parental divorce. A systematic search of EBSCO, PubMed, ERIC, Scopus, and Google Scholar yielded 131 unique records, of which 23 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. The findings indicate that interventions primarily target known mediators of risk, such as parenting difficulties and family conflict, highlighting the importance of effective co-parenting and family dynamics. However, there is a notable scarcity of rigorous evaluations assessing the long-term effectiveness of these interventions across diverse cultural and temporal contexts. This review identifies strengths and limitations within existing programs and highlights significant gaps in literature, particularly regarding the need for more comprehensive evaluations and greater integration of children’s perspectives.