This randomized controlled trial, involving parents seeking to resolve their separation-or divorce-related disputes and reporting high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV), compared return-to-court (traditional litigation, n ϭ 67 cases) to 2 mediation approaches designed to protect parent safety (i.e., shuttle, n ϭ 64 cases; videoconferencing, n ϭ 65 cases) at a court-annexed mediation division. We present immediate outcomes, which showed some favorable results for mediation. Both mediation approaches were perceived as safe by mediators, and parents felt safer in mediation than in traditional litigation. Parents in mediation were also more satisfied with the process than parents in traditional litigation. Return-to-court cases took 3 times as long to reach final resolution as mediation cases. Mediators tended to prefer shuttle over videoconferencing, and videoconferencing cases were half as likely to reach agreement as cases in shuttle. Through coding the content of the document that resolved case issues, we found no statistically significant group differences in legal custody, physical custody, or parenting time arrangements, and few differences in the likelihood of the document specifying a variety of arrangements (e.g., how to handle missed parenting time) or including safety provisions (e.g., supervised child exchanges). We conclude that in cases with parents reporting concerning levels of IPV, when both parents are independently willing to mediate, mediation designed with strong safety protocols and carried out in a protected environment by well-trained staff may be an appropriate alternative to court.

We report 1-year follow-up outcomes from a randomized controlled trial involving parents resolving separation or divorce-related disputes and reporting high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). We compared traditional litigation to two mediation approaches designed to protect parent safety (i.e., shuttle and videoconferencing) at a court-annexed mediation division. The sample was not nationally representative, limiting generalizability. We found no significant differences across conditions in parent reports of satisfaction with the process, level of continuing IPV or interparental conflict, parenting quality, parent functioning, or child functioning. Parents in traditional litigation, relative to parents in mediation, reported significantly more social support. Also, parents in videoconferencing, versus those in shuttle, mediation reported more PTSD symptoms from IPV. Based on coding of legal records, no significant condition differences emerged in relitigation rates in the family court case or charges of study case IPV-related incidents. Given few differences across study conditions, including in satisfaction levels, in contrast to the immediate outcomes, the 1-year follow-up findings do not clearly favor mediation or litigation. We conclude that when both parents in cases with reported high IPV are willing to mediate, mediation designed with safety protocols and carried out in a protected environment by well-trained staff may be an appropriate alternative to traditional litigation. We consider implications of our findings; for example, we discuss implications of the form of videoconferencing mediation examined for conducting online mediation, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Objectives: Perinatal psychopathology can be damaging. This study examined the strength of the associations between risk factors and all perinatal mood and anxiety disorder symptoms while assessing the mediating effect of experiential avoidance. Method: Participants ( N =246) completed assessments during pregnancy (28-32 weeks) and the postpartum (6-8 weeks). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine associations between risk factors and latent factors: Distress (composed of depression, generalized anxiety, irritability, and panic symptoms); Fear (social anxiety, agoraphobia, specific phobia, and obsessive-compulsive); and Bipolar (mania and obsessive-compulsive). Results: During pregnancy, past psychiatric history, anxiety sensitivity, maladaptive coping, and age were significant risk factors. In the postpartum, negative maternal attitudes and past psychiatric history were only risk factors for symptoms that composed Distress. Experiential avoidance mediated the relation between maladaptive coping and symptoms that composed Fear. Conclusion: It is important to assess for psychological risk factors starting in pregnancy. This study identified critical risk factors that are associated with the underlying commonality among perinatal mood and anxiety symptoms. Some of the risk factors as well as the mediator are malleable (negative maternal attitudes, experiential avoidance), creating new possibilities for prevention and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder symptoms.

A majority of separating parents seeking family mediation report intimate partner violence (IPV). Whether mediation is appropriate for such parties is controversial. Modified mediation approaches may enhance party safety by keeping them physically separated (e.g., shuttle and videoconferencing mediation). Unfortunately, little research exists regarding whether parties reporting IPV attend mediation, even proposed safer forms, and whether attendance is related to IPV reported, type of mediation provided, or parent gender.We examined IPV-related variables as predictors of courtreferred mediation attendance among cases reporting high levels of IPV. Specifically, we compared cases that did or did not attend mediation. Cases were part of a larger randomized controlled trial that included shuttle and videoconferencing mediation conditions (Holtzworth-Munroe et al., 2020). No statistically significant findings emerged on several variables. However, parents reporting higher levels of IPV, even among this high IPV sample, were the most likely to not attend shuttle mediation. That finding held for both parents for level of reported injury but only for mothers for reported level of IPV victimization. While replication is required, efforts should continue to examine and develop dispute resolution interventions to provide safe, appropriate, and