Implementing Relationship Education for Emerging Adult College Students: Insights from the Field

Drinking and Dating: Examining the Link Among Relationship Satisfaction, Hazardous Drinking, and Readiness-to-Change in College Dating Relationships

“…In particular, these findings suggest that relationship health may be an important target for programs aimed at decreasing heavy alcohol use of college students and suggest that college students may benefit from relationship-oriented education and interventions. For example, the provision of relationship education programs, which has been shown to effectively reduce divorce and distress among married adults (Hawkins, Blanchard, Baldwin, & Fawcett, 2008), has also been received favorably by young adult college students (Olmstead et al, 2011). Moreover, recent efforts to provide relationship education in the form of a formal elective course (see Neilsen, Pinsof, Rampage, Solomon, & Goldestein, 2004) or as part of existing high-enrollment courses (see Fincham, Stanley, & Rhoades, 2010) have shown considerable promise in building college students’ relationship knowledge, communication skills, and reducing risky sexual behaviors.…”

Zen and the art of sex: examining associations among mindfulness, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction in dating relationships

“…Because emerging adulthood is a time during which individuals are beginning to enter into committed intimate relationships while simultaneously developing a self-identity (Arnett, 2004;Arnett & Tanner, 2006;Collins & van Dulmen, 2006), individuals at this lifestage may be more receptive to efforts aimed at promoting favorable relationship behaviors and building relational skills. Such efforts have already been received favorably by young adult college students (Olmstead et al, 2011) and demonstrated promise in building emerging adults' relationship knowledge and communication skills while reducing risky sexual behaviors (Braithwaite & Fincham, 2007;Fincham, Stanley, & Rhoades, 2010;Nielsen, Pinsof, Rampage, Solomon, & Goldestein, 2004). Thus, findings from the present study suggest that mindfulness training and psychoeducational information about mindfulness skills may be a helpful addition to current efforts aimed at promoting greater sexual and relationship health among dating emerging adults.…”

Avoid falling for a jerk(ette): Effectiveness of the Premarital Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge Program among Emerging Adults

“…Markman and Rhoades () reviewed CRE programs from 2002 to 2010, and of the 32 studies in the review, only two featured programs targeting individuals in the mate selection stage: Within My Reach (WMR; Pearson, Stanley, & Kline, ) and PICK (Antle et al., ; Van Epp, Futris, Van Epp, & Campbell, ). To the authors’ knowledge, there are currently only seven published quantitative studies evaluating CRE in the mate selection phase: five in the university setting (Braithwaite, Lambert, et al., ; Cottle et al., ; Fincham et al., ; Olmstead et al., ), one to individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds in the community (Antle et al., ), and one to military personnel (Van Epp et al., ).…”