TY - JOUR

T1 - Cooperation after Divorce

T2 - An RCT Study of the Effects of Digital Intervention Platform on Self-Perceived Stress

AU - Cipric, Ana

AU - Strizzi, Jenna Marie

AU - Lange, Theis

AU - Øverup, Camilla Stine

AU - Štulhofer, Aleksandar

AU - Sander, Søren

AU - Kjeld, Simone Gad

AU - Hald, Gert Martin

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Divorce has long been considered one of the most pervading stressful life events and has consistently been associated with high stress levels and subsequent poorer mental- and physical health. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Cooperation after Divorce (CAD) online intervention on perceived stress immediately following divorce. The study’s design was a one-year longitudinal randomized controlled trial including an intervention group (n = 1,031) and a no-treatment control group (n = 825) with four assessments of perceived stress levels (at baseline and 3, 6 and 12-months post-divorce). The CAD intervention consists of a 17-module online platform designed to support divorcees and their children post-divorce. Data analyses consisted of linear mixed effect modeling and means comparisons. The study found that the intervention significantly accelerated the reduction of perceived stress among recently divorced adults when compared with controls. Further, after one year, stress levels in the intervention group were reduced to normed national stress levels while the mean stress level in the control group remained substantially higher. The results suggest that online interventions may offer long-term public health benefits in reducing stress among newly divorced individuals and speak to potential implications related to the services provided for people undergoing divorce.

AB - Divorce has long been considered one of the most pervading stressful life events and has consistently been associated with high stress levels and subsequent poorer mental- and physical health. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Cooperation after Divorce (CAD) online intervention on perceived stress immediately following divorce. The study’s design was a one-year longitudinal randomized controlled trial including an intervention group (n = 1,031) and a no-treatment control group (n = 825) with four assessments of perceived stress levels (at baseline and 3, 6 and 12-months post-divorce). The CAD intervention consists of a 17-module online platform designed to support divorcees and their children post-divorce. Data analyses consisted of linear mixed effect modeling and means comparisons. The study found that the intervention significantly accelerated the reduction of perceived stress among recently divorced adults when compared with controls. Further, after one year, stress levels in the intervention group were reduced to normed national stress levels while the mean stress level in the control group remained substantially higher. The results suggest that online interventions may offer long-term public health benefits in reducing stress among newly divorced individuals and speak to potential implications related to the services provided for people undergoing divorce.

U2 - 10.5093/pi2020a7

DO - 10.5093/pi2020a7

M3 - Journal article

VL - 129

SP - 113

EP - 123

JO - Psychosocial Intervention

JF - Psychosocial Intervention

SN - 1132-0559

IS - 2

ER -