The Effects of Building Strong Families: A Healthy Marriage and Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents

Abstract

This article examines the impacts of Building Strong Families, a healthy marriage and relationship skills education program serving unmarried parents who were expecting or had recently had a baby. Based on a random assignment research design, the analysis uses survey data from more than 4,700 couples across eight research sites to estimate program effects. Results varied across sites, with one site having a pattern of positive effects (but no effect on marriage) and another having numerous negative effects. However, when impacts are averaged across all research sites, the findings indicate that the program had no overall effects on couples' relationship quality or the likelihood that they remained together or got married. C 2012 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. 1 ACF Healthy Marriage Initiative website,

Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation

“…Income support policies for families with children have undergone a remarkable transition (Moffitt and Scholz 2010). The last decade has seen a substantial expansion in public programs explicitly designed to foster marriage (Wood et al 2012), and recent initiatives more closely integrate efforts to improve earnings, child support outcomes, and relationship quality (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement 2012; Wood et al 2012;Zaveri and Hershey 2010). These policy initiatives further highlight the importance of understanding the role of economic resources in shaping family formation decisions and related outcomes.…”

Flexible Delivery Approaches to Couple Relationship Education: Predictors of Initial Engagement and Retention of Couples

“…Petch et al (2012) recruited couples for RE who were expecting their first child through antenatal classes and found they could attract high-risk couples (e.g., couples who were cohabiting, had unplanned pregnancy and had a history of low level inter-partner violence), although there was an under-representation of minority couples and couples with low education. The Building Strong Families (BSF) project is a very large (n = 6,212 couples) eight site evaluation of several different RE programs specifically targeted to unmarried couples expecting a child together (Wood et al 2012). While large numbers of high risk couples were attracted to register for RE programs, attrition and low attendance was a substantial problem across most sites, with 45 % of couples never attending a single RE session.…”

Healthy Nests Transition to Parenthood Program: A Phenomenological Analysis of Participant Experiences

“…More specifically, a study that did investigate the longitudinal effects of a brief intervention (Bringing Baby Home) specifically designed for new parents reported the following outcomes: (a) improved relationship quality, (b) less interpersonal hostility, (c) markedly lower maternal and paternal postpartum depression, and (d) increased warmth and involvement of fathers (Shapiro and Gottman 2005). On the contrary, the Building Strong Families program (Wood et al 2012), specifically designed for unmarried couples did not show effects on couples' relationship quality. This intensive program, aimed at helping unmarried new parents build their relationship toward marriage, was mainly educational in nature.…”