AUTHOR Levengood, Jan; And Others TITLE Relationship between Therapists ' Knowledge about Divorce Effects and Marital Therapy Intervention

The effects of divorce on children have been greatly disputed among therapists. Since the perceived harmfulness of divorce may affect how marital counseling is done, this study examined how therapists ' beliefs about divorce consequences are related to their intervention preferences. A two-part questionnaire was devised to be administered to marital therapists from 26 counseling sites. Of 75 questionnaires distributed, 37 were returned. The first part of the questionnaire referred to as the Marital Therapist Intervention Scale assessed marital therapy intervention preferences using 19 Likert-scale items, and the second part, referred to as the Divorce Knowledge Questionnaire assessed the therapists ' knowledge about the effects of divorce on children using 12 Likert format items. Marital therapists with higher knowledge of the effects of divorce on children made greater use of intervention items from the pro-divorc