Those who agree to mediate report better spousal communication patterns than those who do not agree to mediate. Those who choose mediation report significantly higher levels of divorce-related depression, guilt, and stress than those who do not choose mediation.
Men are significantly more positive about beginning the mediation process than women.
Whereas men's willingness to mediate is related to their recognition of a poor marriage, women's willingness to mediate is shaped by divorce-related anger they hold toward their spouse, their view of spousal integrity, and their perceived level of cooperation. It is important to explore the extent to which the child is compromised by parental behavior which enlist the child in the parent's conflict agenda. Outcome and Satisfaction Research on mediator qualifications has failed to show a correlation between the mediator's education and rough indicators of performance, such as settlement rates or satisfaction by the parties. More recent and less severe disputes were most likely to be resolved, as were disputes between parties with at least a modest level of communications an cooperation. Voluntary participation in mediation does not appear to produce higher settlement rates than mandated participation in mediation.