The period covered is January 21, to October 17, 1999, in Callaway County and February 2 to October 19, 1999, in Randolph County. Under Missouri law, almost all parents with minor children who divorce, seek custody or a divorce modification are required to attend a parenting class. Twenty-seven Missouri counties receive such classes through University Outreach/Extension.

There were 239 participating parents (124 mothers and 114 fathers--one did not provide gender data). The mean age was 33.68 years. Five were African-American, 231 Euro-American and three identified selves as "other." Because there were so few African-Americans and "others," there is no analysis by race. Nine (3.8%) did not identify their income level, 35.6% had incomes below $20,000, 33.55% incomes $20,000 to $34,999, 18% incomes $35,000 to $49,999, 5% incomes of $50,000- to $69,9999 and 10% incomes of $70,000 and over. [Note, this is reported income by household at the time of the class.] Educational levels were 15.5% with some high school, 47.3% high school graduates, 26.4% post high school technical training and/or associate degree, 7.9% a bachelor's degree, 2.9% a graduate degree.

All parents were asked whether they had purchased or borrowed books on divorce for themselves or their children before attending the Focus on Kids class. Of the 211 responding, 50 (23.7%) answered "yes." There was not much difference between males and females with 25.2% of females and 22.2% of males answering "yes."

Usage of books increased with educational level. Only three (9.67%) of 31 parents who had some high school reported using books. For high school graduates that increased to 21.8%, 26.3% for technical training/associate degree, 43.75% for bachelor degree and 43.75% for those with a graduate degree. (There is some caution because there were very few degreed participants--16 with bachelor and 6 with graduate degrees).

Among class participants, Callaway had higher percentages of high school and college graduates and Moberly a higher percentage of technical/associate degrees.

Among participants, three-fourths from Randolph County had incomes under $35,000, but only two-thirds from Callaway County.

Education appears to be more significant to book usage than income. About 20% of those with incomes below $50,000 used self-help books; while more than a third of those with incomes between $50,000 and $69,999. Among those who had incomes of more than $70,000, just 20%.

The education and income distributions suggest education is a major factor in self-help book utilization by divorcing parents, but income also is a factor. Those with lower incomes are less likely to use books (possibly due to affordability or limited access plus less education) while those with higher incomes rely more on economic resources. Additional factors were not investigated in the current evaluation.

Slightly more than a fifth (22.5%) with children under the age of three reported using books. Slightly more than one-fourth of those with children ages 3 to 14 reported using books. For those ages 15 to 18, only 16% reported using books. It may be those parents of older children view the children as "more adult" and do not see a need.

Also considered were the respondents' relationships with the divorcing spouses and the respondents' perception of the divorcing spouses' relationships to them. The taxonomy was developed by Ahrons (1981) and added to by Ahrons & Rodgers (1987). One hypothesis is the relationship with the ex-spouse influences the likelihood of using books. Fewer than 25 (13.4%) of the 187 responding identified themselves as Dissolved Duo or Perfect Pals and neither is included in the analysis. Fewer than 5% of dissolved Duo and nearly 45% of Perfect Pals reported book usage. Interestingly, Angry Associates were the LEAST LIKELY to seek assistance through books. But nearly 40% of fiery Foes!

Conversely, more than 40% of those perceiving their spouses as Angry Associates used self-help books. More than 25% Cooperative Colleagues in each category reported using books.

These results raise a number of interesting questions. Dissolved Duos have virtually no contact with each other. FOK stresses the importance of involvement in divorced parents' lives by both parents, advocating frequent contact. It may be that Divorcing Duos have "given" up on involving the former spouse. As 39% describe themselves as Angry Associates or Fiery Foes and 16% describe the divorcing spouse as Angry Associates or Fiery Foes, it would suggest that books could be valuable resources. For those identifying a spouse as an Angry Associate or themselves as Fiery Foes, books are borrowed/purchased, but not vice versa. There was small N describing spouses as an Angry Associates (23) or Fiery Foes (6). These findings call for additional investigation and analysis.

This effort also explored usage by years' married and frequency of marriage. Nearly half of those married 16 to 20 years reporting the use of books with the second highest among those married 21 to 25 years (27.8%--though only 18 respondents were in this category). Only 3.5% reported not having been married and only 4.3% being married three or more times, so they are not included in this analysis. However, of those married once, 25.2% used books, while for those twice married only 17.8%. This suggests that usage is heaviest by those dissolving a first marriage. Additional N is required to further analyze this question.

Four types of living arrangements were included in the analysis. Percentages for each are given: For respondents whose children were with them most of the time, 23.5%; where all children live with the other parent 21.4%; where time is equally shared by both parents 36%; for children split in primary living arrangement, 17.6%. Of the 196 participants, 50% lived with the respondent most of the time. Parents whose children shared time equally were far more likely to utilize books. Equal sharing suggests additional planning and more frequent contact with the ex-spouse than other arrangements. That may encourage parents to seek more information.

Another question explored was why parents were required to attend the program. Least likely to use books were those spouses filed for divorce or for a motion to modify. Most likely to use books were those who filed a motion to modify the divorce decree (28.6%).

Those who have moved more than four times in the past five years are least likely to use books. Those parents whose parents divorced when they were younger than age 18 were far more likely to use books: 78%! This is very suggestive that their experiences as children led them to seek additional resources.

This analysis also looked at parental stress level and usage of books. As respondents' self-reported stress increased, the likelihood of using books increased (slightly more than 28% for those with the highest stress). For those self-reporting their perceived spouses' stress level, those reporting spouses with medium levels of stress were most likely to use books.

One last question investigated the belief the respondent would remarry. Nearly one-third of the 108 who believe they will remarry (30.6%) reported using books, but slightly less than 18% of the 192 who do not plan to remarry reported book usage.

It would be helpful to know what books parents currently are using. We do provide a list of recommended books (that is being updated). We do not know whether parents use books from the list. We also don't know what other sources (such as newspaper articles or magazines) may be used by parents. It may be more beneficial to provide a book list to parents at the time they file for divorce rather than at the time of the program. This would assure provide book information earlier in the divorcing process. It also suggests that maybe we should list recommended magazines with quality articles for parents. Also a possibility is the utilization of contemporary videos (such as "Mrs. Doubtfire," and "Kramer vs Kramer" that could serve as points of discussion by parents with their children). We also are currently evaluating the value of having sample quality books available for parents to examine.

There has been little investigation of the benefits (or lack of benefits) to parents and children utilizing self-help books and bibliotherapy in the divorce process. More research is needed.

Ahrons, Constance R., and Roy Rodgers (1987) Divorced Families: Meeting the Challenge of Divorce and Remarriage , New York, N.Y., Norton.

Ahrons, C., & Wallisch, L. (1987). "The relationship between former spouses" In Steve Duck & Daniel Perlman (Eds.), Intimate Relationships: Development, Dynamics, and Deterioration (pp. 269-296). Beverly Hills, CA:Sage