Identifying a typology of helpful post-divorce family assets: Implications for divorce education

Divorce education programs seek to provide parents with information about various aspects of the divorce process, its consequences, and strategies for successful adjustment. Within those broad content areas, however, there are myriad of potential promotive-, protective-, and risk-factors that programs could address. Thus, divorce education programs could benefit from further guidance about the content areas divorcing parents may find the most helpful. In the present study we aimed to describe what divorced parents felt had helped their families throughout the divorce process. We did so to promote further alignment between divorce education program content and what parents have found helpful. Specifically, we identified a typology of helpful post-divorce family assets. Our findings suggest that though a plurality of divorcing parents benefit from a wide range of legal/professional, former spouse, and personal assets, the majority rely predominately upon their own parenting skills and resources, or perceive few beneficial assets to draw on. We contend divorce educators should consider incorporating further information on developing personal parenting skills or resources, and skillfully navigating legal or therapeutic systems, to further complement existing curricula. Divorce education programs could benefit from further understanding of what divorced parents find helpful as they navigate family transitions. We identified three patterns of helpful assets: (1) Everything Helps (37.6% of sample); (2) Nothing Helps (34.2%); and (3) I Help Myself (28.2%). Across groups, the assets most likely to be seen as helpful were within parents' own control (e.g., their own parenting skills). Divorce education programs should consider expanding their focus on these individually controlled assets and skillfully navigating the legal system.