Predictors of attendance at court‐referred shuttle or videoconferencing mediation among separating or divorcing parents reporting high levels of intimate partner violence

Abstract

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