Is Communication a Mechanism of Relationship Education Effects Among Rural African Americans?

Abstract

Enhancing communication as a means of promoting relationship quality has been increasingly questioned, particularly for couples at elevated sociodemographic risk. In response, the current study investigated communication change as a mechanism accounting for changes in relationship satisfaction and confidence among 344 rural, predominantly low-income African American couples with an early adolescent child who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program. Approximately 9 months after baseline assessment, intent-to-treat analyses indicated ProSAAF couples demonstrated improved communication, satisfaction, and confidence compared with couples in the control condition. Improvements in communication mediated ProSAAF effects on relationship satisfaction and confidence; conversely, neither satisfaction nor confidence mediated intervention effects on changes in communication. These results underscore the short-term efficacy of a communication-focused, culturally sensitive prevention program and suggest that communication is a possible mechanism of change in relationship quality among low-income African American couples.

The Protecting Strong African American Families Program: a Randomized Controlled Trial with Rural African American Couples

“…Previous analyses using data from Wave 1 (W1) and Wave 2 (W2) indicated that, approximately 9 months after baseline, ProSAAF couples’ communication, satisfaction, and confidence were greater than those of couples in the control condition (Barton et al, 2017). In addition, among an initial subset of 139 families (50% intervention), ProSAAF families reported better parenting and youth outcomes than did those in the control condition (Beach et al, 2016).…”

“…In this article, we summarize the conceptualization of the program and present results from a randomized controlled trial with rural African American couples. Building on previous studies supporting ProSAAF’s short-term impact (Barton et al, 2017; Beach et al, 2016), the current study uses three waves of data spanning 17 months to investigate the program’s impact on rates of change in couple, coparenting, and parenting interactions, as well as the mechanisms through which these effects occur.…”

Research on Marital Satisfaction and Stability in the 2010s: Challenging Conventional Wisdom

“…This indicates that learning to communicate more effectively and with less negativity does not necessarily translate into better functioning relationships and, conversely, that relationships can improve without overt improvements in communication (cf. Barton et al, ; Cordova et al, ). Indeed, a brief intervention focused only on enhancing relationship awareness, with no emphasis on skills training, performed as well as 15‐hour intensive skill‐based workshops, possibly because heavy emphasis on behavioral skills can inadvertently sensitize couples to shortcomings in their communication (Rogge, Cobb, Lawrence, Johnson, & Bradbury, ).…”

Best Practices in Relationship Education Focused on Intimate Relationships

“…They found short‐term positive impacts on communication quality (between parents) for the intervention group compared with randomized controls, and further demonstrated that these short‐term impacts were associated with less arguing in front of children 2 years after the intervention. In another RCT on an updated version of the program, the team found significant impacts on a variety of measures of relationship quality up through at least 1.5 years after the intervention and that changes in communication associated with the intervention fully mediated these effects (Barton et al, , ).…”