Does Mediation Work?

Does Mediation Work?
There have been more than 50 studies on divorce mediation in the last 20 years. There appears to be enough data to lean favorably for the success of divorce mediation. Here is what the studies have found: Settlement Ratesr
The research reflects that mediation produces agreement in 50 to 80 percent of cases, whether court-referred, voluntary or mandatory or whether there has been a history of intense marital conflict.

Overall Client Satisfactionr
Couples who have utilized mediation have reported a greater satisfaction with their divorce then those who went through an adversarial divorce. Clients reported gave much of the credit to the skills and professionalism of the mediator. They sited the creativity of the professional, their success at managing the emotions of the couple, their ability to remain neutral, the mediator’s ability to have each person feel heard and understood, and to help the couple come to fair agreements about their property settlement, child custody and parenting plans.

Satisfaction Among Womenr
In general, the difference in the levels of satisfaction with mediation among men and women is not statistically significant. This is in contrast to adversarial divorce, where men are significantly more dissatisfied than women with the process and outcome.

There has been some discussion of findings that women are disadvantaged in mediation, but that initial research has been discredited. On the whole, women in mediation express greater satisfaction with both process and outcomes than do their litigation counterparts

Effect on Terms of Agreementr
In general, mediated agreements tend to be more comprehensive than settlements reached either voluntarily or involuntarily in adversarial court. In general, mediation results in more joint legal custody compared to adversarial processes, but not necessarily a different parenting schedule. Researchers have not noted a statistical difference in the treatment of child support payments, although mediating fathers are more likely to agree to pay for "extras" for their children and are more likely to agree to help with college expenses.

Long Term Mental Health
Researchers agree that mediation does not seem to have any long-term statistically significant effect on the psychological adjustment of either divorcing couples or their children, whether the mediation is custody only or comprehensive

Cost in Time and Moneyr
Mediating couples tend to resolve issues in their divorce in substantially less time than that taken by their counterparts in litigation. They also tend to spend significantly less money. In one study, couples in the adversarial sample reported spending 134% more (more than twice as much) for their divorces than those in the mediation sample. Most reports tend to find less dramatic differences, however, in the 30-40% range.

Compliance and Relitigationr
Researchers generally report higher rates of compliance with mediated agreements, when compared to agreements reached in the adversarial process. This includes parenting schedules, payment of child support and spousal support, and completing the final division of property. Relitigation rates are low in general among mediated samples and are lower than in adversarial samples. A possible major contribution is the feeling each person has on making the final outcome.

Kathy Memel, Ph.D, MFT
http://www.beverlyhillsdivorcemediation.com/