Objective To explore whether changes in positive interaction skills as a result of participation in couple and relationship education (CRE) are associated with changes in relationship hope. Background Recent CRE work has focused more on its effectiveness for disadvantaged couples, with the early evidence mixed. Increasing the effectiveness of CRE for disadvantaged couples will require more evidence of how it works, not just whether it works. Method In this study, 182 lower income couples participated in a 30‐hour psychoeducational intervention, Family Expectations (FE), in Oklahoma City. Participants completed measures of positive interaction skills and relationship hope, a seldom‐studied construct in CRE research, before and shortly after the program. Results At pretest, there was significant variation in relationship hope among FE participants. Latent growth curve models revealed changes in positive interaction skills were associated with higher levels of partners' relationship hope at the end of the program, although the effect of men's skills changes on their partners' hope was 3 to 4 times stronger than for women's skills changes on their partners' hope. Additional latent growth curve models found that nearly 70% of participants reported positive changes in skills and that participants entering the program with the lowest levels of hope experienced the greatest changes in positive interaction skills. Conclusion We conclude that relationship hope is a legitimate target outcome in CRE and is influenced by improvement in positive interaction skills, consistent with social learning theory. Also, those entering CRE with low levels of hope improve interaction skills most, and men's growth produces larger gains for the couple relationship than women's growth. Implications Distressed individuals and couples should be particularly encouraged to attend CRE programs, and program developers should make sure that their curricula and pedagogic processes are well aligned with men's interests and learning styles.
This study reports on a nationally representative sample of married individuals ages 25-50 (N = 3,000) surveyed twice (1 year apart) to investigate the phenomenon of divorce ideation, or what people are thinking when they are thinking about divorce. Twenty-eight percent of respondents had thought their marriage was in serious trouble in the past but not recently. Another 25% had thoughts about divorce in the last 6 months. Latent Class Analysis revealed three distinct groups among those thinking about divorce at Time 1: soft thinkers (49%), long-term-serious thinkers (45%), and conflicted thinkers (6%). Yet, divorce ideation was not static; 31% of Time 1 thinkers were not thinking about it 1 year later (and 36% of nonthinkers at Time 1 were thinking about it 1 year later). Also, Latent Transition Analysis revealed 49% of Time 1 long-term-serious thinkers, 56% of soft thinkers, and 51% of conflicted thinkers had shifted groups at Time 2, mostly in the direction of less and softer thinking about divorce. Overall, divorce ideation is common but dynamic, and it is not necessarily an indication of imminent marital dissolution.
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