Discussion of the Preliminary Validation Study’s Results

Abstract

This study provided preliminary support for the Egregious/Promotive Factors Model (EPFM) as a guideline for conducting child custody evaluations. The EPFM was developed based on empirical evidence that has been shown to predict outcomes in children. It suggests assessments that may assist in measuring evidence of egregious and promotive factors in families to assist in making custody recommendations that are consistent with the Best Interests of the Child. Overall, judges who received the EPFM-guided report found it to have a clear rationale, to be acceptable, and reported that they would want custody evaluators to write reports in the same way. Furthermore, judges who received the EPFM-guided report reviewed it more positively than judges who received the unspecified constructs report across all areas of the report, even though not all of these domains reached statistical significance. Judges who received the EPFM-guided report cited the egregious and promotive factors as being influential in their custody decision, and a high percentage of judges adopted the recommendations of the evaluator. In total, support was found for the three hypotheses of this study. Based on these favorable outcomes, additional research to further refine and develop the EPFM is warranted.