Francesca Adler-Baeder

Demographic Predictors of Relationship and Marriage Education Participants' Pre- and Post-Program Relational and Individual Functioning

Limited knowledge exists regarding differences in relationship and marriage education (RME) experiences based on social address. The current study examines pre- and post-program data from 1293 ethnically and economically diverse adults participating in RME programs. Investigations centered on whether race, income, marital status, and attendance status (i.e., attend with partner or singly) predicted baseline levels and change in a broad range of indicators of individual functioning, couple functioning, and confidence in ones relationship for men and women. Income was the strongest predictor of baseline levels; higher income was associated with higher entry levels in all three target areas. In addition, race predicted unique variance in individual functioning, and marital status and attendance status predicted unique variance in relational targets. Men and women demonstrated positive changes in all target areas following RME participation. Attending with a partner was the only predictor of change in target outcomes for women and was the strongest predictor of change in target outcomes for men. Lower income and being married also predicted greater change in relational functioning among men. Implications for providing RME with diverse audiences are discussed.

Evaluation of a statewide youth-focused relationships education curriculum

Romantic relationships matter for adolescents. Experiences in romantic relationships facilitate key areas of personal and interpersonal development, however, problems in romantic relationships and lack of positive role models can lead to increased risk of developing unhealthy relationship patterns that can persist into adulthood. The goals of this applied research project were to examine the effectiveness of a youth-focused relationships education curriculum, and to use the knowledge gained to inform practices in relationships education for adolescents. Findings from pre and post-intervention assessments and from two follow-up surveys provide evidence of program success and offer key insights for the development of an effective model of relationships education tailored for adolescents.

Identity and intimacy during adolescence: connections among identity styles, romantic attachment and identity commitment.

Integration of adult attachment and psychosocial development theories suggests that adolescence is a time when capacities for romantic intimacy and identity formation are co-evolving. The current study addressed direct, indirect and moderated associations among identity and romantic attachment constructs with a diverse sample of 2178 middle adolescents. Identity styles were found to have unique and direct associations with identity commitment. Attachment anxiety showed only indirect associations and attachment avoidance had both direct and indirect associations with identity commitment. Tests of moderation revealed that gender, race and relationship status had no influence on the direct associations of identity styles or romantic attachment with identity commitment. Few differences in association strength among identity styles and romantic attachment emerged for gender or race. However, the differences found for relationship status suggested that relationship experiences adolescents bring to their exploration of identity and intimacy matter for how these two areas of development articulate.

What Adolescents Bring to and Learn from Relationship Education Classes: Does Social Address Matter?

The current study examined the effectiveness of a youth-focused relationship education curriculum in a sample of 1,430 adolescents attending health classes across 39 public high schools. The evaluation consisted of pre, post, and 1-year follow-up data collections for intervention and control samples. Growth curve models were fit to test the general effects of the curriculum and to examine the influence of social address indicators. Results indicated that the intervention group, but not the control group, changed in the desired direction in terms of the faulty relationship beliefs and the relationship skills that were the focus of this study. Desired improvements on the faulty relationship beliefs occurred independent of social address, but desired improvements in conflict management skills appeared only for the less socially or economically advantaged groups (e.g., lower socioeconomic status and minority status). Participants living in stepfamilies also significantly improved their perceived skills. Adolescents living in single-parent family structures appeared to benefit least from the program. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Conceptual Framework for Marriage Education Programs for Stepfamily Couples with Considerations for Socioeconomic Context

Stepfamily couples face unique challenges that put them at higher risk for dissolution than non-stepfamily couples. Risks for stepfamily couples are magnified in the context of lower economic resources, making low-income stepfamily couples a key target population for intervention and for community education programs. Existing programs and services for couples often do not address the unique situations of stepfamilies. This article builds on previous reviews that have offered information on important research themes and assessment of available curricula for stepfamily couples and presents a more comprehensive conceptual model to guide program design and services for stepfamily couples inclusive of specific objectives, as well as conditions and antecedents affecting content and prioritized needs. The goal is to enhance efforts to strengthen more vulnerable couples in complex families.

Exploring processes of change in couple relationship education: predictors of change in relationship quality.

In the past several decades, a number of largely atheoretical individual and meta-analytic studies of couple relationship education (CRE) programs have focused on program effectiveness without considerations of how these programs work and for whom. To address this gap in the literature, the current study drew upon assumptions from social-cognitive and behavioral theories that are implicit in CRE design to assess the influence of short-term changes from pre- to posttreatment in behaviors and commitment on changes in relationship quality among a racially and economically diverse group of 2,824 individuals who participated in a CRE program. Findings from structural equation modeling indicated that the best-fitting model for both men and women was one in which changes in behaviors predicted changes in relationship quality via their influence on changes in commitment. Further, a series of moderational analyses provided some evidence to suggest that the strength of the relationships between these variables may depend to a small extent on the social address of the participants (race, income) and to a greater extent on characteristics of the CRE experience (i.e., beginning the class at lower levels of functioning, attending with a partner). Findings help us begin to understand the influences among domains of change that occur as a result of participating in a CRE program, as well as offering some useful information to practitioners on demographic and contextual moderators of program outcomes. Implications for future research on the mechanisms of change for CRE are presented.

Recruitment and Retention for Stepfamily Education

To assist scholars and practitioners involved with marriage and relationship education for diverse audiences, this article establishes new and verifies already existing strategies to recruit and retain couples in stepfamilies. We examine recruitment and retention strategies used by 10 different agencies who offer the Smart Steps program to low-income stepfamilies. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 facilitators and 40 participants. Many of the identified strategies were consistent with related research regarding the use of incentives, minimizing costs, and removing logistical barriers. Additional strategies and implications were identified including the cultivation of trust, using personal contacts, involving children and incentivizing youth attendance, tapping into the interests and motivations of potential participants, and advertising common stepfamily problems conjointly with the promise of helpful solutions.

Engagement in risky sexual behavior: adolescents' perceptions of self and the parent-child relationship matter

The current study examined associations among parenting practices, adolescents’ self-esteem and dating identity exploration, and adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Participants were 680 African American and European American sexually experienced adolescents attending public high schools in the southeast. Results indicated that risky sexual behavior was associated positively with parental psychological control, and negatively with self-esteem and dating identity exploration. Parental support positively predicted self-esteem and dating identity exploration; psychological control also showed a positive association with dating identity exploration. Contrary to expectation, neither self-esteem nor dating identity exploration mediated associations between parenting and risky sexual behavior; moderation tests showed few differences. However, dating identity exploration showed potential to serve as a protective factor for higher risk groups (i.e., males, African Americans), and psychological control appeared particularly detrimental for older adolescents. Finally, youth from stepfamilies showed associations among the variables that differed from youth living in single-parent and two-parent biological/adoptive families.

Identity as a Moderator of Intervention-Related Change: Identity Style and Adolescents' Responses to Relationships Education

We propose that interventions targeting youth should consider the effects of identity formation on outcomes. In this study, data from 935 high school students address the potential moderating effects of identity style (high vs. low informational, normative, diffuse orientations) on intervention-related change in faulty relationship beliefs, future orientation, perceived interpersonal communication skills, salience of future marital and parental roles, and perception of knowledge gains. Four moderating effects suggest that high use of informational style promotes active exploration of curriculum content. Two moderating effects suggest that high use of the normative style limits responsiveness to some topics. Finally, three moderating effects reveal a tendency for diffuse students to resist the positive messages of the curriculum. Taken together, findings support the idea that identity style is an important influence on intervention outcomes.

Marital Quality for Men and Women in Stepfamilies Examining the Role of Economic Pressure, Common Stressors, and Stepfamily-Specific Stressors

Although economic pressure and family stress models have been examined with samples of men and women in first marriages, previous models have neglected to focus on men and women in stepfamilies and to examine stress sources unique to stepfamilies. This study examines the effect of economic pressure on both common stressors and stepfamily-specific stressors and the subsequent effects on negativity, positivity, and marital quality. Results of structural equation modeling with a sample of 490 men and women in stepfamilies indicate that the proposed stepfamily stress model fit the data well for both men and women. For women, stepfamily-specific stressors have a direct inverse effect on positivity, negativity, and marital quality. For men, stepfamily-specific stressors were predictive of both positivity and marital quality. Findings from the study advance previous research on economic pressure, family stress, and marital quality.