Educating for change: A meta-analysis of education programs for separating and divorcing parents

Abstract

Parent education programs have been designed explicitly for separated and divorced parents. These programs typically aim to help parents navigate the challenges of co-parenting, reduce their children's exposure to interparental conflict, and promote their children's well-being post-separation and divorce. Evaluating the effectiveness of parent education programs has been challenging, given the heterogeneity of formats, duration, and settings of these programs. This meta-analytic review aimed to complete a compressive search of relevant studies of parent education programs for separated and divorced parents. Among 40 studies, 103 treatment effects were included across education programs. The overall weighted standardized mean difference across all education programs was 0.24 (CI = 0.14, 0.34, Q = 1274.69, df: 97, p < 0.001, I² = 0.96.7), but these small effects were not maintained at follow-up (ES 0.00, CI: −0.09, 0.09). Given the considerable heterogeneity across effect sizes, a meta-regression and multiple regressions were computed to assess the influence of moderator variables. This review provides further evidence of the effectiveness of parent education programs. Implications are provided to create evidence-based guidelines.