High conflict Divorce and child adjustment What we know and don’t know about exposure to trauma and child adjustment Kelly M. Champion PhD ABPP Clinical and Forensic Psychologist Cadeus Behavioral Health

Objectives Describe prolonged conflict over parental custody and access to parenting time. Describe mental health roles in courts related to these contests. Discuss the ethical and professional risks associated with court-involved families. Identify resources related to responding to allegations of child exposure to violence.

Expert Witness to the Facts Mental Health Roles Expert Witness to the Facts Reports on individual functioning Custody evaluations Forensic Experts Witness Answers questions related to science Answers limited questions about case

Contested parenting time court contests Contested parenting time Disagree on child needs/ desires New partners Relocations Concerns related to quality of care Allegations of abuse

Longitudinal Case study Wallerstien & Lewis (2004) 25 year in-depth qualitative study Domestic violence had lasting impact Loss of $ resources in college Time vs. quality of relationship

increased risk for maladjustment Risk and adjustment increased risk for maladjustment variability in group is big very small effects relatively higher than never married 75% - 90% of adults = well-being to adults from intact families

Parenting evaluations Minimize risks for evaluators & children consistent and transparent fair relevant to legal standards knowledgeable of violence / abuse

Parent behaviors Child adjustment Safe, secure, nurturing Time within limits Responsive, child centered Children value Fairness – financial, emotional

Risk and adjustment Child characteristics Level of disruptions Changing parent roles and behaviors Parent stress and distress All interact

divorced, never married, separated Parenting Evaluations Limited outcome research Comprehensive Parenting Time, decision making Education, extra-curricular Best Interests

standards of professional practice Parenting evalutions standards of professional practice APA Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Family Law Proceedings (2010) APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (2017)

divorced, never married, separated Parenting evaluations protect the physical & psychology well-being of the child minimize litigation inform the court one evaulator ethical, professional, informed

Challenges Based on research on groups Recommendations for individuals How to weight factors? What to assess? How? Draw meaningful conclusions using all the resources.

Challenges Variable of time Applying research behavior over time e.g. pre-divorce child’s age and developemntal stage Applying research Expert in evaluating research Court challenges Misuse of resarch problemmatic

What is high conflict divorce? Ongoing contested parenting time Controversial term Objective measure: court resources spent Conflict means equal Adult oriented not child-focused Unclear violence to bitter anger

High conflict Lack of clear definition Sometimes aggression; sometimes not 20% of children grow up in home Hostility high before, during, after Parent who cooperatively solve child- related problems raise better adjusted children True among divorced families

High Conflict Consensus Association of Family and Conciliation Courts National Counsel of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Interpersonal Violence (IPV) describes a powerful aggressor using violence and coercion to control a victim.

Risk and adjustment Complex task Require Multiple players all different In state of transition research not specific Require evaluating research careful application avoidance of advocacy

Evaluations attend to factors that increase risk Parenting and courts Evaluations attend to factors that increase risk Pre-parent separation factors Context matters Amato (2003) High conflict better after separation Low conflict worse after separation

Typology of violence Typologies don’t fit clearly and aren’t in service settings Minimizes the risk of harm with words alone Implies no need for scrutiny neglects correlation with child abuse Requires careful assessment

Expert Witness to the Facts Mental Health Roles Expert Witness to the Facts Reports onf individual functioning Custody Evaluations Forensic Experts Witness Answers questions related to science Answers limited questions about case

Evaluators who have no knowledge of IPV have erroneous beliefs Over estimate exponentially false reports Don’t adequate assess for DV or evidence Fail to appreciate the harm to child

Child refuses contact or otherwise rejects a parent Parent Alienation Child refuses contact or otherwise rejects a parent Promoted by advocates e.g. A Baker’s research described as longitudinal but collaged at one time “diagnose” with only record review 25 years no researc support

Parent Alienation Richard Gardner Practitioner who inflated credentialed and lied Attributed child rejection to other parent without evidence Treatment is removal of child from home / no contact Advocates make these recommendations

Alienated Child Not accepted in courts ABA “junk science” Child protection first

APA WORKING GROUP REPORT: TRAUMA & SEXUAL ABUSE (1998) “The history of human trauma and its aftermath is one marked by discovery and recognition offset by recoil, denial, and neglect. . . (and) meets the needs of perpetrators who, as a group, use denial . . . to mask their abuses.

Resources American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children American Association of Family and Conciliation Courts National Child Traumatic Stress Network

evaluations Family Evaluation in Custody Litigation: Promoting Optimal Outcomes and Reducing Ethical Risks by G. A. H. Benjamin, C. J. Beck, M. Shaw, and R. Geffner (2018) American Psychological Association