The future of divorce support: Is “digital” enough in presence of conflict?

Abstract

Divorce conflict is the main driver of adverse postdivorce health adjustments among divorcing families. Despite the growing potential of online divorce support programs, there is concern that such solutions might not be sufficient to impact health‐related disparities among high‐conflict divorcees. The present study examined the effectiveness of the digital “Cooperation after Divorce” intervention as a function of conflict among 1856 recently divorced Danish residents. Linear mixed‐effect regression modeling suggested that, although higher levels of divorce conflict at judicial divorce predicted worse health outcomes up to 1 year following divorce, the effectiveness of the digital divorce intervention did not vary as a function of the initial level of divorce conflict. Individuals in the intervention group with higher conflict in divorce still reported worse health at 12 months follow‐up than those with lower levels of divorce conflict; however, much lower than the control group.