Couples relationship standards and satisfaction in Pakistani couples.

Relationship standards are beliefs about what is important in a satisfying couple relationship, which vary considerably between cultures, and might mean that what couples seek from couple therapy differs across cultures. We assessed the standards of n = 49 Pakistani couples and whether those standards predicted couple satisfaction. To provide referents for the Pakistani standards, we also assessed selfreported relationship standards in n = 33 Western couples and n = 30 Chinese couples. Pakistani couples endorsed couple bond standards (e.g., expressions of love) as similarly important, and family responsibility (e.g., extended family relations) standards as more important, than Western or Chinese couples. In Pakistani couples, Couple Bond predicted couples' relationship satisfaction, but family responsibility and Religion predicted only wives' satisfaction. Modest sample sizes necessitate caution in interpreting results but suggest existing couple therapies might need modification to address the distinctive relationship standards of Pakistani couples.

Performer Roles and Behaviors in Dyadic Sexually Explicit Media Featuring Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Heterosexual gender roles are not directly relevant to gay romantic relationships, but gay men often take on different relationship roles depending on their sexual roles. In the present paper, we argue that gay men might draw on sexually explicit media (SEM) featuring men who have sex with men (MSM) to get information about how insertive sexual partners ("tops") and receptive sexual partners ("bottoms") typically behave. For this to be the case, however, we would have to reliably observe different behavior in SEM performers acting as tops vs. bottoms. We examined 220 of the most viewed online dyadic MSM SEM videos to determine whether performed verbal and physical intimacy, victimization, and sexual behaviors depended on the sexual role taken. We found that tops and bottoms engaged in similar amounts of intimacy behaviors, but that bottoms were depicted as initiating sexual activity more than tops. Tops enacted physical and psychological victimization more than bottoms, although these behaviors were rare. Tops were shown taking the insertive role across all sexual acts and versatile performers (i.e., those taking both insertive and receptive roles) were rarely depicted. The present study adds to the literature about the complexity of sexual-self-labels, and suggests that MSM SEM depictions of intimacy and sexual decision-making depend on the sexual role taken.

Helping couples achieve relationship success: A decade of progress in couple relationship education research and practice, 2010-2019.

This article systematically reviewed 34 rigorous evaluation studies of couple relationship education (CRE) programs from 2010 to 2019 that met the criteria for Level 1 well-established interventions. Significant advances include reaching more diverse and disadvantaged target populations with positive intervention effects on a wider range of outcomes beyond relationship quality, including physical and mental health, coparenting, and even child well-being, and evidence that high-risk couples often benefit the most. In addition, considerable progress has been made delivering effective online CRE, increasing services to individuals rather than to couples, and giving greater attention to youth and young adults to teach them principles and skills that may help them form healthy relationships. Ongoing challenges include expanding our understanding of program moderators and change mechanisms, attending to emerging everyday issues facing couples (e.g., healthy breaking ups, long-distance relationships) and gaining increased institutional support for CRE.

Assessment of the Perceived Importance of Religion in Couple Relationships in Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and the Nonreligious.

Couple relationship standards (beliefs about what makes for a satisfying couple relationship) have not included standards held about religion, which is surprising given how important religion is in many parts of the world. In the current study, we developed the Importance of Religion in Couple Relationships Scale (IRCRS) with the aim of having a scale suitable for use across different cultural and religious groups. The IRCRS was administered to three samples: 354 Pakistani residents (178 females, 176 males) who identified as Muslim; 274 Thai residents (157 females, 117 males) who identified as Buddhist; and 165 Westerners (resident in Australia or the United States, 60 males, 105 females) who identified as either not religious (n = 74) or Christian (n = 91). We developed a 13-item measure with a two level structure yielding an overall importance of religion score. The items in the IRCRS had acceptable cross-cultural structural invariance in a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis of the Pakistani Muslims, Thai Buddhists, and Westerners. Pakistani Muslims endorsed IRCRS standards most strongly, Western Christians next most strongly, Thai Buddhists next, and Westerners with no religion least strongly. There were no gender differences, and only very small differences by relationship status. The IRCRS can be used in future research to investigate the association of religious relationship standards with couple relationship satisfaction and might be a useful clinical tool to assess the importance of religion to couples.

Los estándares de las relaciones de pareja (las creencias acerca de lo que conduce a una relación de pareja satisfactoria) no han incluido los estándares relacionados con la religión, lo cual es sorprendente teniendo en cuenta cuán importante es la religión en muchas partes del mundo. En el presente estudio desarrollamos la Escala de la Importancia de la Religión en las Relaciones de Pareja (IRCRS, por sus siglas en inglés) con el objetivo de tener una escala apta para el uso en diferentes grupos religiosos y culturales. Se administró la IRCRS a tres muestras: 354 residentes pakistaníes (178 mujeres, 176 hombres) que se identificaron como musulmanes; 274 residentes tailandeses (157 mujeres, 117 hombres) que se identificaron como budistas; y 165 occidentales (residentes en Australia o en EE. UU., 60 hombres, 105 mujeres) que se identificaron como irreligiosos (n = 74) o como cristianos (n = 91). Desarrollamos una escala de 13 ítems con una estructura de dos niveles que da un puntaje de la importancia general de la religión. Los ítems de la IRCRS tuvieron una invarianza estructural intercultural aceptable en un análisis factorial confirmatorio multigrupo de los musulmanes pakistaníes, los budistas tailandeses y los occidentales. Los musulmanes pakistaníes confirmaron los estándares de la IRCRS más marcadamente, luego le siguieron los cristianos occidentales, los budistas tailandeses y finalmente los occidentales irreligiosos. No hubo diferencias de género y solo muy pequeñas diferencias según el estado civil. La IRCRS puede utilizarse en investigaciones futuras para averiguar la asociación de los estándares religiosos de las relaciones con la satisfacción con la relación de pareja, y podría ser una herramienta clínica útil para evaluar la importancia de la religión para las parejas.

The Baby Steps Web Program for the Well-Being of New Parents: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: New parents face increased risks of emotional distress and relationship dissatisfaction. Digital interventions increase support access, but few preventive programs are optimized for both parents. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to conduct the first randomized controlled trial on universal self-guided digital programs to support positive perinatal adjustment of both mothers and fathers. Effects of childcare information (Baby Care) and information plus an interactive program (Baby Steps Wellbeing) were compared from the third trimester baseline to 3 and 6 months subsequently. METHODS: The study recruited 388 co-parenting male-female adult couples expecting their first single child (26-38 weeks' gestation), using web-based registration. Most (337/388, 86.8%) were obtained from prenatal hospital classes. Couples' randomization was automated and stratified by Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores (50% couples scored high if either mother >7, father >5). All assessments were web-based self-reports: the EPDS and psychosocial quality of life were primary outcomes; relationship satisfaction, social support, and self-efficacy for parenting and support provision were secondary. Linear mixed models provided intention-to-treat analyses, with linear and quadratic effects for time and random intercepts for participants and couples. RESULTS: Selection criteria were met by 63.9% (248/388) of couples, who were all randomized. Most participants were married (400/496, 80.6%), tertiary educated (324/496, 65.3%), employed full time (407/496, 82%), and born in Australia (337/496, 67.9%). Their mean age was 32.2 years, and average gestation was 30.8 weeks. Using an EPDS cutoff score of 13, 6.9% (18/248) of men, and 16.1% (40/248) of women screened positive for depression at some time during the 6 months. Retention of both partners was 80.6% (201/248) at the 6-month assessments, and satisfaction with both programs was strong (92% ≥50). Only 37.3% (185/496) of participants accessed their program more than once, with higher rates for mothers (133/248, 53.6%) than fathers (52/248, 20.9%; P<.001). The EPDS, quality of life, and social support did not show differential improvements between programs, but Baby Steps Wellbeing gave a greater linear increase in self-efficacy for support provision (P=.01; Cohen d=0.26) and lower reduction in relationship satisfaction (P=.03; Cohen d=0.20) than Baby Care alone. Mothers had greater linear benefits in parenting self-efficacy over time than fathers after receiving Baby Steps Wellbeing rather than Baby Care (P=.01; Cohen d=0.51). However, the inclusion of program type in analyses on parenting self-efficacy and relationship satisfaction did not improve model fit above analyses with only parent gender and time. CONCLUSIONS: Three secondary outcomes showed differential benefits from Baby Steps Wellbeing, but for one (parenting self-efficacy), the effect only occurred for mothers, perhaps reflecting their greater program use. Increased engagement will be needed for more definitive testing of the potential benefits of Baby StepsWellbeing for perinatal adjustment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614001256662; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=367277.

Minority Stress and Psychological Outcomes in Sexual Minorities: The Role of Barriers to Accessing Services.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are at higher risk for poor mental health than their heterosexual counterparts, and these disparities are largely accounted for by minority stressors. Less is known about the mechanisms underlying associations between minority stress and mental health. In a sample of 592 LGB adults (Mage = 29.39), we tested a model in which minority stress (internalized stigma, stigma consciousness, and lived discrimination) was associated with poor mental health when mediated by stigma-related barriers to accessing psychological services. Structural equation modeling revealed that minority stressors predicted more barriers to service use which, in turn, predicted poorer mental health outcomes. Internalized stigma was also directly associated with poor mental health. Results suggest that links between minority stress and poorer mental health in LGB individuals are at least partly explained by stigma-related barriers to accessing services. Future research is needed to investigate methods which may ameliorate these barriers.

Intimacy in Dyadic Sexually Explicit Media Featuring Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Sexually explicit material (SEM) featuring men who have sex with men (MSM) may be a source of information about intimacy in same-sex male relationships for MSM. However, little is known about how MSM SEM depicts intimacy between male performers. The current study examined the 220 most viewed dyadic scenes of MSM SEM videos for the presence of verbal intimacy (compliments, personal disclosure, and expressions of care) and physical intimacy (kissing, cuddling, affectionate touch, and genital touch before and after sex) between performers. At least one example of physical and verbal intimacy was present in the majority of videos (91% and 68% of videos, respectively). Most forms of physical and verbal intimacy occurred before or during sex, with intimacy being least evident post-sex. We also tested if the presence of intimacy was associated with viewer interactions with videos (likes and dislikes) and number of views. Only one of seven forms of intimacy, care (verbal), was associated with more interactions (i.e., likes and dislikes per 100,000 views), and there was no association with the number of views. Potential implications for MSM's understandings of intimacy are recognized and discussed with reference to sexual script theory.

Fair enough? Decreased equity of dyadic coping across the transition to parenthood associated with depression of first-time parents.

The transition to parenthood (TTP) is a stressful life event for most couples. Therefore, the way both partners jointly cope with stress (i.e., dyadic coping) is important for the prevention of individual adjustment problems (e.g., depression). For dyadic coping to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms, efforts of both partners should be equal. However, many couples experience a decrease of equity in task division within the domestic sphere across the TTP. The current study investigates the equity of a specific skill within the 'relationship sphere', because similarly to a decreased equity in household and childcare, a decreased equity of dyadic coping is likely to be associated with poorer individual adjustment. We collected longitudinal self-report data on dyadic coping and depressive symptoms from 104 mixed-gender first-time parents (n = 208 individuals) from pregnancy until 40 weeks postpartum. We created an equity score for men and women that measured their perceived difference between received and provided dyadic coping. On average, women reported providing more and receiving less dyadic coping than men. While both genders agreed on this distribution, men did perceive a higher equity of dyadic coping than women. Furthermore, the decrease of equity perceived by women across TTP was not visible in men. In line with our assumptions based on the equity theory, perceived equity of dyadic coping was associated with depressive symptoms in a curvilinear manner: Decreases in women's perceived equity in either direction (over- or underbenefit) were associated with more depressive symptoms in women and their male partners. This association was found above and beyond the beneficial effect of dyadic coping itself. This implies that not only how well partners support each other in times of stress, but also how equal both partners' efforts are, is important for their individual adjustment across TTP.

An Uncontrolled Trial of Flexibly Delivered Relationship Education with Low-Income, Unmarried Perinatal Couples.

OBJECTIVE: To examine couple and parenting outcomes from an American version of Couple CARE for Parents (CCP) in low-income, unmarried couples. BACKGROUND: We adapted an evidence-based, flexibly delivered program for use with low-income, unmarried couples, for whom the outcome literature is scarce. METHOD: Couples (n = 443) were recruited from maternity units and began CCP. They completed measures before, during, and immediately after the intervention, and 6 months later. RESULTS: Moderate psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) declined and perceived parenting efficacy increased over time; there was no change in severe psychological or physical IPV. Individuals with lower levels of relationship commitment than their partners showed improvement in relationship satisfaction, whereas those with similar or higher levels of commitment maintained their baseline levels despite being in a period of expected satisfaction decline. CONCLUSION: CCP showed some signs of helping low-income couples during a stressful period and its flexible service delivery model allowed these couples to participate by reducing the impediments of transportation challenges, conflicting work schedules, and overall time poverty. IMPLICATIONS: Practitioners interested in using CCP with low-income couples would likely maximize the impact by (a) focusing on pregnant, first-time parents; (b) integrating CCP within post-natal healthcare; and/or (c) assuming that a considerable minority of couples will avail themselves of only up to two sessions, and thus practitioners should front-load content, making other content optional or just-in-time. In addition, non-psychoeducational elements (e.g., gamification, easy computerized tasks to reduce angry responses, watching couple-themed movies) could enliven preventative offerings for perinatal couples.

Assessment of Couple Relationships Standards in Same-Sex Attracted Adults.

Relationship standards are beliefs about what makes a good romantic relationship. To date, no research on relationship standards in same-sex relationships has been conducted. This paper describes development of the Rainbow Couples Relationship Standards Scale (Rainbow CRSS). In common with measures of relationship standards developed with heterosexuals, the Rainbow CRSS assesses the importance people attach to Couple Bond standards (expression of love, caring, intimacy), Family Responsibility standards (extended family relations, maintenance of face and harmony), Religion, and Relationship Effort standards. The Rainbow CRSS also assesses three standards hypothesized to be of particular importance to same-sex couples: Relationship Outness (public disclosure of the relationship), Sexual Openness (acceptance of open sexual relationship), and Dyadic Coping with Homophobic discrimination. Participants were 414 same-sex attracted men and women who completed the Rainbow CRSS online, plus some validation scales. The Rainbow CRSS showed a coherent two-level factor structure that was similar to that in heterosexual couples for the Couple Bond and Family Responsibility Scales. Same-sex attracted people's standards were similar for men and women, and for singles versus those in a relationship. Same-sex attracted people's standards were very similar in endorsement of Couple Bond, Family Responsibility, Religion, and Relationship Effort standards to those of heterosexuals. The Relationship Outness and Dyadic Coping with Homophobia scales assessed potentially important standards that reflect some distinctive challenges for same-sex couple relationships.

La terapia familiar generalmente se ha conceptualizado como un proceso conversacional por medio del cual los terapeutas y los pacientes generan nuevos significados. Basándose en un estudio de tres años de prácticas conversacionales observables en procesos satisfactorios de terapia familiar de familias chilenas con un niño/adolescente que tiene comportamientos disruptivos, buscamos ejemplos clínicos de patrones interpersonales transformadores (PIT). Estos patrones son un aspecto clave del "IPscope" o instrumento de evaluación de los patrones interpersonales (Tomm, St. George, Wulff, & Strong, 2014), un marco que usamos para analizar los procesos de creación de significado en la terapia familiar. Los patrones interpersonales transformadores constituyen un enfoque innovador para analizar los procesos terapéuticos mediante el reconocimiento de prácticas conversacionales fáciles de seguir empíricamente que participan en la generación de "significados nuevos". Los patrones interpersonales transformadores intervienen en la presentación y la articulación discursiva ("convencer de crear") de las manersa preferidas de los pacientes de relacionarse y vivir (p. ej.: preferencias relacionales o PR). Analizamos datos conversacionales de sesiones/tratamientos satisfactorios de terapia familiar y presentamos un modelo emergente de cinco categorías de prácticas conversacionales que constituyen patrones interpersonales transformadores, por ejemplo: PIT preparatorios, PIT identificadores, PIT localizadores, PIT transformadores y PIT consolidadores. Los hemos llamado "realizadores" porque estas prácticas conversacionales ayudan a las familias a convencerlas de crear (o a "hacer realidad") preferencias relacionales particulares. También ofrecemos descriptores fáciles de usar de las subcategorías de los realizadores (p. ej.: PIT de medición) que pueden ayudar a los profesionales a reconocer, aprender y llevar a cabo estas invitaciones conversacionales. Se debaten las consecuencias teóricas y las futuras líneas de investigación.

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Impact of the Couple CARE for Parents of Newborns Program on the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Problems.

Effective, accessible prevention programs are needed for adults at heightened risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). This parallel group randomized controlled trial examines whether such couples receiving the American version of Couple CARE for Parents of Newborns (CCP; Halford et al. 2009) following the birth of a child, compared with controls, report fewer first occurrences of clinically significant IPV, less frequent physical and psychological IPV, and improved relationship functioning. Further, we test whether intervention effects are moderated by level of risk for IPV. Couples at elevated risk for IPV (N = 368) recruited from maternity units were randomized to CCP (n = 188) or a 24-month waitlist (n = 180) and completed measures of IPV and relationship functioning at baseline, post-program (when child was 8 months old), and two follow-ups (at 15 and 24 months). Intervention effects were tested using intent to treat (ITT) as well as complier average causal effect (CACE; Jo and Muthén 2001) structural equation models. CCP did not significantly prevent clinically significant IPV nor were there significant main effects of CCP on clinically significant IPV, frequency of IPV, or most relationship outcomes in the CACE or ITT analyses. Risk moderated the effect of CCP on male-to-female physical IPV at post-program, with couples with a planned pregnancy declining, but those with unplanned pregnancies increasing. This study adds to previous findings that prevention programs for at-risk couples are not often effective and may even be iatrogenic for some couples.

Minority Stress and Same-Sex Relationship Satisfaction: The Role of Concealment Motivation.

Most lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people want a stable, satisfying romantic relationship. Although many of the predictors of relationship outcomes are similar to those of heterosexual couples, same-sex couples face some additional challenges associated with minority stress that also impact upon relationship quality. Here, we investigate the association between minority stressors and relationship quality in a sample of 363 adults (M age = 30.37, SD = 10.78) currently in a same-sex romantic relationship. Internalized homophobia and difficulties accepting one's LGB identity were each negatively associated with relationship satisfaction via heightened concealment motivation. We also examined the protective role of identity affirmation on relationship quality, finding a direct positive relationship between the two variables. Minority stressors were negatively associated with couple relationship satisfaction via heightened concealment motivation. The finding that identity affirmation directly predicted increased couple satisfaction also highlights the important role of protective factors in same-sex couple relationships.

La mayoría de las personas lesbianas, gais y bisexuales (LGB) desean una relación amorosa estable y satisfactoria. Aunque muchos de los predictores de las complicaciones en las relaciones son similares a los de las parejas heterosexuales, las parejas del mismo sexo enfrentan algunas otras dificultades asociadas con el estrés de las minorías que también repercuten en la calidad de la relación. Aquí investigamos la asociación entre los factores desencadenantes de estrés en las minorías y la calidad de la relación en una muestra de 363 adultos (edad promedio = 30.37, desviación estándar = 10.78) que están actualmente en una relación amorosa del mismo sexo. La homofobia internalizada y las dificultades para aceptar la identidad LGB propia estuvieron asociadas negativamente con la satisfacción en la relación mediante un incremento de la motivación por la ocultación. También analizamos el papel protector que desempeña la afirmación de la identidad en la calidad de la relación y encontramos una relación positiva directa entre las dos variables. Los factores desencadentantes de estrés en las minorías estuvieron asociados negativamente con la satisfacción en la relación de pareja mediante un incremento de la motivación por la ocultación. El hallazgo de que la afirmación de la identidad predijo directamente una mayor satisfacción en la pareja también destaca el papel importante que desempeñan los factores protectores de las relaciones de pareja del mismo sexo.

A randomized controlled trial comparing family mediation with and without motivational interviewing.

Family mediation is a widely used approach to assist separated parents to resolve conflicts about parenting arrangements for their children, yet frequently parents undertaking mediation do not reach a mutually agreeable resolution. In Australia, where the current study was conducted, separated parents must attempt family mediation before they can seek to appear in the family court for custody issues. We compared mediation enhanced with motivational interviewing (MI) with mediation as usual (MAU) in a randomized controlled trial. One hundred and seventy-seven separated-parent dyads were recruited from a community-based telephone mediation service, and randomized to receive MI or MAU. Outcome of mediation was classified as no agreement, partial agreement on some of the areas in dispute, and full agreement. We assessed parental psychological distress, emotional attachment to former partner by the coparent, child adjustment, and coparental conflict before and after the mediation, and at 3-month follow-up. MI had double the rate of full agreements of MAU (33% vs. 16%), and a lower rate of no agreement than MAU parents (33% vs. 42%). Psychological distress, coparental conflict and attachment to the former partner declined from pre- to postmediation in both conditions, but child adjustment was unchanged. There was no difference between MAU and MI on any of these outcomes. MI enhanced achievement of agreements but did not enhance other outcomes. Conducting the study in a busy community mediation service created some challenges that compromised implementation of the study which might influence the reliability of findings. However, the possibility that MI enhances agreement in mediation warrants further investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record

Predictors of Engagement in Family Mediation and Outcomes for Families that Fail to Engage.

An important limitation to the effectiveness of family mediation in assisting separated parents is parents failing to engage in the mediation process. In 524 parents who presented to a telephone-based mediation service, 113 (22%) initiating parents withdrew from mediation before the other parent was invited to participate, 241 (46%) initiating parents had respondent parents who declined to participate in mediation, and 170 cases (33%) completed mediation. We tested whether socio-demographic variables, psychological distress, coparental acrimony, parenting problems, or children's behavioral difficulties predicted mediation engagement. High interparental acrimony predicted failure to engage in mediation, but none of the other variables predicted mediation engagement. We followed a sample of 131 families that did not mediate and found they showed elevated psychological distress, acrimony, parenting problems and child adjustment difficulties, which remained unchanged 6 months later. Further research is needed to explore strategies to enhance respondent parent engagement with mediation, and to address the negative outcomes for those separated families not proceeding with mediation.

Trauma Symptoms, Communication, and Relationship Satisfaction in Military Couples.

Trauma symptoms are negatively correlated with couple relationship satisfaction, which is of particular importance in the relationships of military personnel who are often exposed to trauma whilst on overseas deployment. This study tested a model in which communication mediated an association between trauma symptoms and low relationship satisfaction. Thirty-one Australian military couples were observationally assessed during a communication task, and assessed on their relationship satisfaction and individual functioning. As expected, trauma symptoms in the male military spouse were associated with low satisfaction in both spouses. Females' low positive communication fully mediated the relationship between males' trauma symptoms and low female satisfaction, but not male relationship satisfaction. Unexpectedly, males' negative communication behaviors were associated with high male relationship satisfaction, and partially mediated the association between trauma symptoms and male satisfaction. Discussion focused on how some communication usually thought of as negative might be associated with relationship satisfaction in military couples.

Couple Relationship Standards and Migration: Comparing Hong Kong Chinese with Australian Chinese.

Rates of international migration are increasing, which raises the question of how migration might influence couple relationship standards and impact on the standards of migrants forming intercultural relationships. We compared relationship standards in n = 286 Chinese living in Hong Kong, China, with standards in n = 401 Chinese migrants to a Western country (Australia) by administering the Chinese-Western Intercultural Couple Standards Scale (CWICSS). We also compared these two groups to n = 312 Westerners living in Australia. We first tested the structural invariance of the CWICSS across the three samples with a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. There was marginal but acceptable fit of a model of two positively correlated latent factors: Couple Bond (with four indicators, such as demonstration of love and caring) and Family Responsibility (also with four indicators, such as extended family relations and preserving face). Within the limitations of the study, results suggest migration is associated predominantly with differences in women's, but not men's, relationship standards. Migrant Chinese women show alignment of Couple Bond standards with Western standards, and divergence of Family Responsibility standards from Western standards. Discussion focused on how migration and intercultural relationship experiences might differentially influence various domains of relationship standards, gender differences in migration effects on standards, and the implications for working with culturally diverse couples.

An ecological model of mediators of change in Couple Relationship Education.

Couple Relationship Education (RE) seeks to enrich couples' relationships, and assist them to manage stressful life events [1]. In the current paper we present an ecological model of couple relationships intended to guide the practice of RE, analyze the mediators of RE effects, and suggest future research needs to assess moderators and mediators of RE effects in order to enhance the impact of RE.

Four year effects of couple relationship education on low and high satisfaction couples: A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: Relationship education (RE) usually is conceived of as relationship enhancement for currently satisfied couples, with a goal of helping couples sustain satisfaction. However, RE also might be useful as a brief, indicated intervention for couples with low satisfaction. The current study evaluated the effect of RE on couples with low and high relationship satisfaction. METHOD: The study was a randomized controlled trial in which 182 couples were randomly assigned to: a book reading control condition (control); RELATE online assessment with feedback and relationship goal setting (RELATE); or RELATE with CoupleCARE (RCC), a flexible delivery skill-based education program. Couples were assessed on relationship satisfaction and individual mental health before and after RE, and through to 4-year follow-up. RESULTS: Couples with high initial satisfaction showed no effects of RE on satisfaction. RCC but not RELATE increased satisfaction in couples with low initial satisfaction, but effects dissipated between 6 and 12 months after RE. There were no effects of RE on mental health. CONCLUSION: Flexible delivery RE produces immediate effects as an indicated early intervention for couples with low relationship satisfaction, but the effects attenuate. Future research needs to seek methods to produce better maintained effects. (PsycINFO Database Record

Relationship Education for Military Couples: Recommendations for Best Practice.

Military couples have a number of distinctive strengths and challenges that are likely to influence their relationship adjustment. Military couples' strengths include stable employment, financial security, and subsidized health and counseling services. At the same time, military couples often experience long periods of separation and associated difficulties with emotional disconnect, trauma symptoms, and reintegrating the family. This paper describes best practice recommendations for working with military couples, including: addressing the distinctive challenges of the military lifestyle, ensuring program delivery is seen as relevant by military couples, and providing relationship education in formats that enhance the accessibility of programs.

Couple relationship education: A randomized controlled trial of professional contact and self-directed tools.

The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to examine the efficacy of an evidence-based relationship distress prevention program, the Couples Coping Enhancement Training (CCET), in dual well-earning couples and to investigate whether effects vary by (a) hours of professional contact and (b) mode of delivery (face to face vs. self-learning DVD). N = 159 couples were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 intervention conditions: (1) standard CCET (15 hours face to face), (2) compact CCET (12 hr face to face), (3) short CCET (self-learning DVD + 8 hr face to face), or (4) wait-list control group. Relationship satisfaction and dyadic coping skills were assessed by means of questionnaires completed prior to and 2 weeks after completion of the treatment, at 3-month follow-up, and at 6-month follow-up. Baseline latent change models for 2 factors showed that the CCET enhanced relationship satisfaction and dyadic coping skills in couples relative to the wait-list control group, albeit effects were small. The standard format of the CCET was not more effective than the compact or the short format indicating that reduced amount of professional contact did not decrease the treatment's efficacy and that the self-learning DVD successfully replaced the psycho-educational part of the program. Since dual earner couples usually face multiple stressors, it is a promising finding that they can strengthen their relationship with a relatively short time investment. (PsycINFO Database Record