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An important limitation to the effectiveness of family mediation in assisting separated parents is parents failing to engage in the mediation process. In 524 parents who presented to a telephone-based mediation service, 113 (22%) initiating parents withdrew from mediation before the other parent was invited to participate, 241 (46%) initiating parents had respondent parents who declined to participate in mediation, and 170 cases (33%) completed mediation. We tested whether socio-demographic variables, psychological distress, coparental acrimony, parenting problems, or children's behavioral difficulties predicted mediation engagement. High interparental acrimony predicted failure to engage in mediation, but none of the other variables predicted mediation engagement. We followed a sample of 131 families that did not mediate and found they showed elevated psychological distress, acrimony, parenting problems and child adjustment difficulties, which remained unchanged 6 months later. Further research is needed to explore strategies to enhance respondent parent engagement with mediation, and to address the negative outcomes for those separated families not proceeding with mediation.

The relationship between parents has a profound effect on children. The current chapter includes a presentation of an ecological framework for understanding the interaction between parents’ relationship and parent–child relationships, and the range of factors that impact each of these family relationships. We then review evidence on the association of negative aspects of parental relationships, like high conflict and violence, with poor adjustment in children, and then examine the association of positive aspects of parental relationships, like intimacy and affection, with positive child adjustment. There is a review of evidence on the effects of psychological interventions to enhance the parents’ relationship and how they affect children. We conclude that attention to the parental relationship, particularly when it is highly conflictual, is important to enhance adjustment of children.

Family therapists often see separating parents who need to agree on co-parenting arrangements. This article provides a guide to current research and practice in family mediation. The limited available research suggests mediation is a useful approach for some separated parents and their children, but often is not successful with highly conflicted parents, parents with mental health problems, parents struggling to accept the separation from their partner, or parents with unrealistic co-parenting expectations. We analyse ways in which mediation might be enhanced, and discuss the potential roles of family therapists to support separating families to negotiate positive co-parenting.

Family mediation is a widely used alternative to litigation for separated parents to resolveconflict about parenting arrangements. The current research includes two studies. The firstinvestigated engagement in family mediation, and attempted to predict those families thatwould not engage in or complete the mediation process. In a sample of 524 parents whoinitiated family mediation, 354 (67%) did not complete mediation; 113 (22%) disengagedprior to their former partner being invited and 241 (46%) did not complete mediation becausetheir former partner refused to engage in mediation. I tested whether socio-demographicvariables, psychological distress, co-parental acrimony, parenting problems or children’sbehavioral difficulties predicted mediation engagement. Only high inter-parental acrimonypredicted failure to engage in mediation. A sample of families that did not mediate (n = 131)showed high psychological distress, acrimony, parenting problems and child adjustmentdifficulties, which remained unchanged 6 months later. The second study was a randomisedcontrolled trial, testing if motivational interviewing (MI) improved agreement rate andoutcomes for separated families relative to mediation as usual (MAU). The outcome ofmediation was classified as no agreement, partial agreement, and full agreement. Parentalpsychological distress, child adjustment, and co-parental conflict was assessed before andafter the mediation, and at a three month follow-up. The mediation outcomes for the MIcondition included a reduced rate of no agreement in comparison to the MAU condition (33%versus 42% of all mediations), and double the rate of full agreements (16% versus 33%).There was no significant difference in psychological distress, child adjustment, or acrimonybetween the MI and MAU conditions. While outcomes for the MI condition includedenhanced agreement rates, there was no significant difference in psychological outcomesbetween conditions.This research suggests that the outcomes for separated families seeking mediation may beimproved by enhancing the process of engagement with respondent parents and trainingfamily mediators in motivational interviewing.