A Comparison of Low-Income Versus Higher-Income Individuals Seeking an Online Relationship Intervention

A latent profile analysis of relationship satisfaction and self-regulation among low-income participants who attended relationship education with a partner

Relationship education has shown promising effects for low-income couples on outcomes such as promoting positive communication, improving global relationship satisfaction, parenting, and individual psychological distress. Studies also indicate that couples' baseline distress (e.g., relational and individual) moderates outcomes. Yet, few studies implemented a person-centered approach to analyzing data for those who participate in relationship education. In a sample of 488 low-income opposite-gendered couples, we identified latent profile groups for men and women based on self-reported relationship satisfaction and behavioral self-regulation scores, thus incorporating both relational and individual factors. Results yielded a three-class solution for men and a four-class solution for women. We then examined group profile differences in individual psychological distress and relationship satisfaction change scores after completing the relationship education intervention (12 h of PREP's Within Our Reach). Results indicated significant differences, suggesting that group membership can predict overall improvements in both psychological and relationship distress. Thus, RE programmers and policymakers may consider flexible delivery (e.g., more or less content; more or less intense coaching) that considers overall baseline relational and/or individual functioning as opposed to a one-size-fits-all method.

Does Web-Based Relationship Education Improve Sexual Intimacy? Initial Examination, Replication, and Exploration of Moderation in a Low-Income Sample

Sexual intimacy, characterized as the experience between individuals of sharing general affection and sexual activity with one another within the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships inventory, is positively related to relationship satisfaction and stability. However, many studies of couple therapy have shown that it only results in small-sized (and often non-significant) improvements in sexual intimacy. Furthermore, there are numerous financial, logistical, and psychological barriers to couple therapy. Thus, the current study sought to examine whether two brief online relationship education programs (OurRelationship and ePREP) could overcome these barriers and yield similar-sized effects to more intensive couple therapy. In two independently collected samples of low-income couples (NSample 1 = 742 Couples; M AgeSample 1 = 33.19; NSample 2 = 671 Couples; M AgeSample 2 = 33.48), the current study found that: OurRelationship (d = 0.24-0.28) and ePREP (d = 0.26-0.34) produced small-sized changes in sexual intimacy relative to a waitlist control condition in both samples, the magnitude of the effect size replicated in a second sample and, with rare exception, these changes were generally not moderated by key variables of interest. Given that web-based relationship education is significantly shorter, less expensive, and more accessible than in-person couple interventions, web-based relationship education could be considered a viable candidate for couples experiencing concerns with sexual intimacy.

Hoe lang wachten mensen voordat zij hulp zoeken voor relatieproblemen? Een onderzoeksnotitie

Een vaak aangehaalde, maar slecht onderbouwde opvatting over relatietherapie is dat koppels gemiddeld zes jaar wachten voordat zij met relatietherapie beginnen voor ernstige relatieproblemen. Deze opvatting gaat vaak hand in hand met het idee dat veel koppels “te laat” komen en dat de vooruitzichten op herstel niet goed zijn. Dit is de eerste studie met een grote steekproef naar de tijd tussen het begin van de relatieproblemen en de start van relatietherapie (N = 270) of individuele therapie (N = 101). We hebben hierin een gemiddelde interval geconstateerd van 2,68 jaar; vanaf het begin van de problemen tot de start van de relatietherapie. De meeste koppels starten binnen twee jaar met de therapie. De bevindingen voor individuele therapie voor relatieproblemen zijn vergelijkbaar. De belangrijkste klinische implicatie is dat therapeuten zich geen zorgen hoeven te maken over het aantal koppels dat zo lang wacht met therapie dat hun problemen niet meer op te lossen zijn.

Understanding barriers to couples therapy

What prevents couples from entering therapy? Given that the rate of couple help-seeking is low, we need a better understanding of barriers to couple help-seeking. To expand our understanding of these barriers, we asked almost 300 people who expressed an interest in couples therapy, to clarify what kept them from seeking help. A content analysis of participant's responses found six distinctive categories: cost of treatment, logistics, the modality of treatment, trustworthiness, relational factors, and a clear therapeutic process. Additionally, some responses suggested that stigma and concerns around the emotional work involved deterred couples from seeking help. This expanded understanding of barriers to couples therapy can assist both researchers and clinicians address them in more intentional ways.

Using Intent-to-Attend to Predict Attendance in Community-Based Relationship Education

Government-supported relationship education has provided resources for inclusion of economically vulnerable and ethnically diverse participants; however, many grantees and programs struggled to retain couples in longitudinal studies, which has likely influenced study effects and threatened internal validity. In the present study, we assessed 1,056 couples' baseline relationship satisfaction and intent-to-attend their next scheduled visit while participating in a randomized controlled trial of relationship education and evaluated the predictive ability of their responses to remain in the six-month study. We conducted actor-partner interdependence models for couples, using a probit cross-lagged regression with a structural equation modeling framework, to test the dyadic influence of intent-to-attend on future couple attendance. We also examined the influence of higher or lower baseline relationship satisfaction between partners and group assignment (treatment or wait-list control) on attendance. Intent-to-attend scores were associated with attendance for couples at the one-month follow-up, and early attendance was the biggest predictor of later attendance. Additionally, baseline intent-to-attend scores predicted later intent-to-attend scores for all follow-up time points. However, we found no partner effects, and no effects for the influence of baseline relationship satisfaction or group assignment. We discuss practical suggestions for including intent-to-attend in future studies, relationship education programming, and general therapy practice.

How long do people wait before seeking couples therapy? A research note

A widely cited but poorly supported idea in the couples therapy field is that the average couple waits six years before starting therapy for serious relationship problems. This figure is often accompanied by the notion that many couples come "too late" and have poor prospects for recovery. This is the first large-sample study on the delay between the onset of serious marital problems and entry into couples therapy (N = 270) and individual therapy (N = 101) for relationship problems. We found an average interval of 2.68 years from onset of problems and entering couples therapy, with the great majority of couples entering therapy within two years. Findings were similar for seeking individual therapy for relationship problems. The main clinical implication is that therapists have little reason to be pessimistic about the majority of couples waiting so long before starting therapy that their problems are not resolvable.

Socioeconomic Status and Intimate Relationships

The ways that couples form and manage their intimate relationships at higher and lower levels of socioeconomic status (SES) have been diverging steadily over the past several decades. At higher SES levels, couples postpone marriage and childbirth to invest in education and careers, but they eventually marry at high rates and have relatively low risk for divorce. At lower SES levels, couples are more likely to cohabit and give birth prior to marriage and less likely to marry at all. This review examines how SES comes to be associated with the formation, development, and dissolution of intimate relationships. Overall, research has highlighted how a couple's socioeconomic context facilitates some choices and constrains others, resulting in different capacities for relationship maintenance and different adaptive mating strategies for more and less advantaged couples. A generalizable relationship science requires research that acknowledges these differences and one that recruits, describes, and attends to socioeconomic diversity across couples.