Research and analysis

Summary: Reducing Parental Conflict programme 2018 to 2022 diary research with parents accessing interventions

Updated 19 September 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Authors: Anna Silk and Sophie Talbot (Department for Work and Pensions)

Background

Between 2015 and 2018, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) worked with a small group of local authorities to test ways of addressing parental conflict as part of the Local Family Offer pilots. The lessons learned from these pilots informed the development of the Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme – which was announced in April 2017 as part of ‘Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families’ – and identified parental conflict as an indicator of disadvantage, linking relationship distress to worklessness and poor later life outcomes for children.

DWP started evaluating the RPC programme in 2019. The evaluation included exploring parents’ experiences of 7 relationship and parenting interventions that were tested under the 2018 to 2022 RPC programme. It also measured the effects of these interventions on interparental relationships and the behaviour and mental health of the children in participating families.

In August 2021, DWP’s In-House Research Unit (IHRU) was commissioned to undertake longitudinal diary research with parents as they participated in the 7 interventions tested under that phase of the programme.

Research aims

The diary research aimed to:​

• provide insight into how parents engaged with RPC interventions at different stages throughout participation, and the progress they made in terms of their parental conflict ​ ​
• deliver a better understanding of interplay between the contexts involved in parental conflict and parents’ experience of RPC support ​ ​
• deliver a greater understanding of retention and drop-out, exploring what led up to some parents leaving early without completing the intervention, whether disengagement was considered or unplanned, and whether there was anything that could have been done to ensure continued engagement ​
• deliver compelling narratives to complement the wider RPC evaluation

Methods

This qualitative research was conducted by the IHRU. Data collection was carried out between November 2021 and August 2022, with parents referred to or taking part in an RPC intervention in one of 4 Contract Package Areas (CPAs) in England^{[footnote 1]}.

The sample was sourced from local authority data on RPC participants. Participants were recruited to the research through a multi-step process, by telephone and email. Parents who agreed to participate were scheduled for a telephone interview and registered on the diary application (app) through their smartphone.

A second (final) interview was carried out soon after the participant’s final RPC session (the diary research therefore captures early outcomes and not mid- to long-term outcomes). 45 participants completed initial interviews and 33 completed final interviews; between the two interviews, 29 participants completed 147 ‘tasks’ (diary entries) on the diary app.

Researchers used the interview notes and diary entries to carry out thematic and narrative analysis. The themes and contexts identified during this process underpin the findings in this report.

Headline findings

Most parents in the diary research reported benefits and positive outcomes from their participation in RPC interventions.

Most parents in the diary research reported benefits and positive outcomes from their participation in RPC interventions. The extent and nature of the benefits varied: participants experienced RPC support differently, depending on the characteristics and contexts that they presented with at the point of referral and throughout their RPC journeys, including the intensity and nature of the conflict.

Participants reported progress in 3 key areas.

Participants reported progress in 3 key areas:

• interparental and family communication
• interparental goodwill
• personal wellbeing and emotional regulation

There were some elements of RPC support that participants reported as bringing almost immediate benefits to some parents and couples.

There were some elements of RPC support that participants reported as bringing almost immediate benefits to some parents and couples:

• amongst intact couples, many reported that being given the space and time to talk and listen in couples’ sessions, with the practitioner there to mediate, often had an immediate positive impact on their relationship and conflict
• parents with the greatest levels of hostility in their relationship with the other parent (often separated parents), particularly those receiving support through group or one-to-one sessions, found tools and techniques to improve emotional regulation had an early positive effect on their wellbeing
• some participants reported the benefits of learning parenting strategies that could be put into practice straightaway

For some parents with complex contexts and backgrounds, RPC support was not sufficient on its own.

For some parents with complex contexts and backgrounds, RPC support was not sufficient on its own. Some of the areas requiring additional expertise and support included:

• mental and physical health needs
• neurodiversity (in children and parents)
• financial stress
• legal issues relating to access

Practitioners’ ability to identify these needs and signpost to relevant support was important in these cases.

Those with the highest levels of hostility in their relationship with the other parent, where a reduction in conflict was unlikely, still benefitted from the interventions.

Those with the highest levels of hostility in their relationship with the other parent, where a reduction in conflict was unlikely, still benefitted from the interventions through wellbeing-focused support and practical tools and techniques to manage difficult situations and stress. This included learning about the positive implications of self-care for themselves and for their children, and practical tools to help improve wellbeing and emotional regulation.

Parents engaged for longer and responded better when the support felt relevant and, where possible, tailored.

Parents engaged for longer and responded better when the support felt relevant and, where possible, tailored with practical advice that they could implement. Tailoring was more easily achieved in one-to-one and couples’ sessions than in group sessions, and satisfaction with session content tended to be higher amongst those in one-to-one and couples’ sessions.

Sometimes parents’ relationship status and household situations changed during RPC support. In such cases, the support needed to adapt to parents’ changing circumstances to prevent disengagement. This could have involved a pause to sessions, flexibility in the frequency or content of sessions, or a review of the suitability of sessions to reflect changing circumstances.​

Such adaptability was not always possible or easy to achieve. Some parents felt that the timing of RPC support was unsuitable for their current situation; some felt there was little of relevance to them while they were going through emotional or traumatic court proceedings, or struggling against recommendations made by professionals.​ However, RPC support was instrumental in helping them understand their situations and decide what was best for their children.

Area-specific findings

Referrals

Parents who attended together or communicated with each other about their involvement with the sessions often felt more positive about their referral, and were therefore more likely to experience positive outcomes, including reduction in conflict.

Parents who were given clear information about the sessions, including intervention aims, and were offered the chance to ask questions prior to a referral, often engaged in sessions for longer. Those who did not attend or dropped out were often unsure about the purpose of the sessions.

Session content and delivery

Parents with lower levels of hostility in their relationship and higher motivation to improve their relationship (both intact and separated) reported progress in both communication with and goodwill towards the other parent by the end of the intervention

Participants felt that being given time in sessions to reflect on their experiences, both past and current, worked well. This might be one-on-one with the practitioner, with the other parent, or with group members. Parents engaged well when session content and materials felt relevant to them. They also engaged better when session content was flexible, particularly in cases where they required more nuanced support or personal circumstances changed.

The demographics and characteristics of fellow group members could affect the relevance of session content, and the willingness of participants to share experiences.

For parents who barely or never communicated with the other parent or felt a high level of hostility towards them, the interventions had most benefit when they focused on building emotional regulation skills.

Session practicalities

Flexibility of mode, length and/or frequency of sessions was important for maintaining engagement. This included offering extensions to interventions where appropriate. While virtual delivery was convenient for many and technical issues were infrequent, some participants would benefit from more technical support in this area.

Practitioners

Practitioners were described as approachable and engaging by most participants. However, soft skills training and appropriate knowledge of participant contexts, including vulnerabilities such as neurodiversity, were considered important. For some participants, practitioner demographics matching their own (for example, gender, cultural background) was important for establishing rapport and trust.

Conclusions

RPC diary research participants experienced a wide range of improvements in their relationship with the other parent, wider family relationships and personal wellbeing, and some of this progress was apparent from an early stage during participation. Successes included improvements to co-parenting, calmer and happier households through application of new parenting skills, increased efforts to reduce overt conflict around children, and increased mutual understanding and (primarily for intact parents) relationship warmth. For parents with the highest levels of conflict, there were fewer improvements in parental conflict, but many reported improvements in emotional regulation and wellbeing.

Personal characteristics and contextual factors influenced engagement with the interventions and outcomes, and while sometimes the interventions were able to adapt to accommodate varying support needs, some parents had needs that fell outside the remit of RPC interventions. This is where collaboration and communication between professional services, and knowledge of relevant services to signpost to, became important.

The contextual factors that affected diary research participants’ experience of RPC support included, but were not limited to, relationship status (intact or separated), parents’ ethnic or cultural background and beliefs, mental and physical health factors, finance and child access issues, and composition of households. Participants’ experiences with interventions also differed according to the nature and intensity of the conflict.

Parents disengaged with interventions when they did not feel session content was relevant or tailored to their circumstances. In addition, some participants experienced practical barriers to taking part, sometimes as a result of the contextual factors described above. Others were unwilling to engage with the other parent, were unsure whether the other parent was engaging, or felt the support was not able to improve their situation because hostility was too high.

Concluding remarks

The evaluation of the effects of the seven interventions tested under the 2018 to 2022 RPC programme^{[footnote 2]} demonstrated that many parents experienced improvements in their relationship with the other parent, and the mental health of their children improved. The diary research complements the wider evaluation by:

1. providing evidence on how these outcomes were achieved in the short term, and;
2. identifying those areas that pose a greater challenge for RPC support.

The evidence suggests that for many of the parents participating in the diary study, the individual interventions worked as intended (i.e. they did what they are designed to do, such as helping parents to appreciate the other parent’s perspective). This report provides insight into what worked, in which circumstances, and for whom, highlighting the nuances inherent in individual journeys and demonstrating both progress and pitfalls.

As the interventions test ended in 2022, this research provides any organisations involved in delivering these interventions with helpful insight into the aspects of the support that parents appreciated and needed to be able to engage with the provision and fully benefit as parents and/or (ex-)partners.

1. RPC Contract Package Areas: Westminster, Gateshead, Hertfordshire and Dorset. ↩

2. DWP (2023) Reducing Parental Conflict programme 2018 to 2022: An evaluation of the effects of interventions on parental relationships and children, London: Department for Work and Pensions ↩