University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Doi
Abstract
Interparental conflict is commonly acknowledged as a significant risk factor for child dysfunctional adjustment after divorce. Researchers and service providers have dedicated significant attention to identifying high conflict cases and to providing appropriate support and interventions. The majority of instruments used to assess interparental conflict are designed for use after the parents have divorced. However, this focus neglects the population of divorcing parents engaged in entrenched conflict during prolonged divorces. This three-part dissertation serves as the initial steps of a larger research agenda to address the knowledge gap on pre-divorce conflict measurement tools. This dissertation begins the exploratory process of instrument development by first synthesizing the literature on pre-divorce conflict indicators and then creating a validated screening tool for pre-divorce conflict assessment. To that end, Paper 1 includes a systematic review of the relevant pre-divorce conflict literature. The results of Paper 1 informed the development of the Parents Divorcing Conflict Scale (PDCS), a short screening tool for pre-divorce conflict, which was then piloted and reviewed for factorial and construct validity in Paper 2. Paper 3 then confirms the factor structure found in Paper 2 and conducts invariance testing across two subgroups: gender and court appearances. The final validated 8-item instrument offers promising practice, policy, and research implications. By assessing for pre-divorce conflict, clinicians, policymakers, and researchers have an opportunity to intervene early in the dissolution of the marriage when stress, and often conflict, may be uncommonly high for the family. Differentiating between normal levels of pre-divorce conflict from those levels that may indicate chronic conflict and providing corresponding support during this stage of divorce can allow families to develop or enhance their coping mechanisms to facilitate individual and familial adjustment post-divorce.Doctor of Philosoph
