Maintenance of Gains in Relationship and Individual Functioning Following the Online OurRelationship Program

Abstract

In the United States, more than 40% of marriages end in divorce and more than one third of intact marriages are distressed. Unfortunately, only a minority of couples seek couple therapy to improve their relationships. Online interventions, with their increased reach and reduced costs, offer the potential to improve relationships nationwide. The online OurRelationship program has been shown in previous nationwide studies to improve relationship and individual functioning. The present study examined whether initial gains in the OurRelationship program were maintained in the following year and whether the extent of maintenance varied across important demographic and individual factors. In this study, 151 distressed heterosexual couples (302 individuals) who were randomized to the OurRelationship program were assessed 3 and 12 months following the intervention. Initial gains in relationship satisfaction, relationship confidence, and negative relationship quality were maintained through 12 months; positive relationship quality significantly improved over follow-up. Furthermore, couples maintained their initial gains in depressive symptoms, perceived health, work functioning, and quality of life; anxious symptoms continued to significantly decrease over follow-up. Finally, there was no evidence that historically underserved groups – racial/ethnic minorities, lower income couples, or rural couples – experienced greater deterioration. In fact, Hispanic couples reported continued improvement in relationship confidence and negative relationship quality in the 12 months following the program. The ability of the OurRelationship program – an eight-hour, primarily self-help program – to create long-lasting improvements in distressed relationships indicates it may have the potential to improve the lives of distressed couples on a broad scale.

Best Practices in Relationship Education Focused on Intimate Relationships

“…OurRelationship may best be thought of as a hybrid between a therapy experience and relationship education, as the program focuses on an existing problem rather than preventing future problems. Couples participating in the intervention have reported gains in relationship satisfaction and confidence, reduced depressive symptoms, and improved quality of life (.18 < d < .69; Doss et al, ; Doss, Roddy, Nowlan, Rothman, & Christensen, ).…”

Maintenance of Relationship and Individual Functioning Gains Following Online Relationship Programs for Low‐Income Couples

“…Most relevant to the present study, initial findings on the maintenance of initial gains from online couples’ programs are also encouraging. Couples in an initial trial of OR in a sample of socioeconomically diverse couples reported maintenance of relationship and individual gains through 12 months postintervention and even continued to improve in positive relationship quality and anxiety over follow‐up (Doss, Roddy, Nowlan, Rothman, & Christensen, 2019). Previous work on ePREP has also found reductions in physical and psychological aggression one year after the intervention (Braithwaite & Fincham, 2014).…”

Best Practices in Family Life Education Program Evaluation

“…In addition, if control‐group participants are offered the intervention soon after treatment‐group participants have finished the program, then observing long‐term differences between treatment and control groups is not possible. (To compensate, some researchers track treatment‐group changes from the immediate posttreatment assessment to examine whether initial changes are maintained; see Doss, Roddy, Nowlan, Rothman, & Christensen, ).…”