Trajectories of relationship and individual functioning among waitlisted couples for an online relationship intervention

Trajectories of Perceived Gratitude and Change Following Relationship Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Lower-Income, Help-Seeking Couples

The current study was designed to advance basic and applied research on perceived gratitude from one's partner in established couple relationships. From a three-arm randomized controlled trial involving 615 lower-income, help-seeking couples (N = 1,224 individuals), study analyses examined (a) the trajectory of perceived gratitude from one's partner among couples assigned to the wait-list condition (i.e., absent of any intervention), and (b) changes in perceived gratitude for individuals assigned to either the OurRelationship (OR) or ePREP relationship intervention condition. With respect to the first aim, levels of perceived gratitude among wait-listed couples demonstrated no significant mean increase over the 6-month period; this rate of change was significantly different from rates of change observed in other relationship constructs (e.g., satisfaction, communication, support) during the wait-list period. Being married, female, and having more children were all associated with lower initial levels of perceived gratitude. For the second aim, individuals assigned to either the OR or ePREP treatment condition demonstrated significant improvements in levels of perceived partner gratitude compared to wait-listed couples. The magnitude of program effect sizes for gratitude (d = 0.33), however, was 3%-48% smaller compared to the magnitude of program effects of other relationship constructs (0.34 < d < 0.64). Results indicated that perceived gratitude is a distinct component of couple relationships, generally lower in more established relationships, and can be improved by participating in OR or ePREP relationship interventions. Implications for research and practice related to gratitude in couple relationships are discussed.

Relational concerns and change in relationship satisfaction in a relationship education program

Lower income couples tend to report more difficulty sustaining high-quality intimate relationships. As a result, policy initiatives have been enacted to fund relationship education (RE) programs that aim to increase lower income couples' relationship satisfaction. Generally, these programs demonstrate small, albeit statistically significant improvements in mean levels of relationship functioning. It is critical, however, to understand if RE programming influences the developmental course of intimate relationships, and if this influence depends on couples' initial levels of concerns about their relationships. Using dyadic group-based modeling and three waves of data from 6034 couples in the Supporting Healthy Marriages project, a randomized control trial of RE, we categorized couples into four relationship concern groups (No Relational Concerns, Both Relationally Concerned, Men's Relational Concerns, and Women's Relational Concerns) and explored how these groups moderated the long-term efficacy of RE programming. Results indicated that RE was associated with different developmental trajectories of satisfaction, but RE effects differed for men and women. Specifically, random assignment into RE was associated with men maintaining high levels of relationship satisfaction, whereas women's satisfaction decreased over time. These effects were not moderated by initial relationship concerns. The association between RE and relationship satisfaction trajectories was small in magnitude, suggesting that more comprehensive services are needed to strengthen lower income couples' intimate relationships.

African Americans' relationship quality and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal investigation of the Marital Discord Model

The present study was designed to examine the complex bidirectional associations between relationship quality and depressive symptoms among African American couples. Informed by the Marital Discord Model, particular attention was devoted to understanding the unique associations of positive and negative dimensions of relationship functioning with depressive symptoms over time, the time frames over which these effects occur, and the model's applicability for African American couples. One hundred seventy-four African American couples (N = 348 individuals) provided information on depressive symptoms, relationship satisfaction, ineffective arguing, and partner support four times over a 25-month period. Hypotheses were tested using Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models to separate between- and within-person effects. Results indicated that between-person associations with depressive symptoms were significant for relationship satisfaction (negative association) and ineffective arguing (positive association), but not partner support. Within-person concurrent effects were also significant with depressive symptoms and each of the relationship processes under investigation. Within-person 8-month lagged effects were only significant for partner support and depressive symptoms (negative association); these effects were significant in both directions, but stronger from support to depressive symptoms than from depressive symptoms to support. Study findings provide increased conceptual and analytic precision for understanding the association between couples' relationship quality and African Americans' mental health, including malleable relationship factors that can be targeted in family-focused interventions to promote individual and couple well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).