Reducing postdivorce conflict through a child-oriented digital intervention: A randomized controlled trial of SES NXT

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Family Studies
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Postdivorce conflict negatively impacts children and parents.
• Existing interventions often lack scalability and accessibility.
• Family systems theory and divorce stress adjustment models inform intervention development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of SES NXT, a digital, age-adjusted intervention.
• To assess the intervention's impact on perceived postdivorce conflict in youth and parents.
• To examine intervention effects using a randomized controlled trial design.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial with 294 youths (11-17) and 467 divorced parent units.
• Comparison between SES NXT intervention and a wait-list control group.
• Perceived postdivorce conflict measured using the Divorce Conflict Scale at baseline, 4, and 12 weeks.

Main Results:

• Youth in the intervention group reported significantly lower perceived parental conflict at 12 weeks (Cohen's d = 0.67-0.76).
• Parents in the intervention group also showed significant reductions in postdivorce conflict (Cohen's d = 0.62-0.81).
• No significant differences between intervention age versions; dose-response effects observed for youth at 4 weeks only.

Conclusions:

• Digital, child-centered divorce interventions like SES NXT are effective in reducing perceived postdivorce conflict.
• Findings support systemic models of change in postdivorce families.
• Scalable, low-cost digital tools show potential for addressing conflict in divorced families.