The Efficacy of Relationship Education for Improving Children's Outcomes: A Multi-Informant, Multi-Method Study

Abstract

Although relationship education (RE) programs aim to improve parents' communication with one another with the hope that it will enhance children's mental health, few studies have investigated if such spillover actually occurs. Therefore, drawing from a sample of 431 families from the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project, the present study examined the relations between parental participation in a RE program and children's subsequent distress, as well as mechanisms that may explain these effects. Using a multi-informant (focal child and parents) and multi-method (self-report and observational assessments) longitudinal design, the current study examined whether randomization into RE programming predicted children's exposure and emotional reactivity to interparental conflict and if decreases in parents' negative communication mediated these effects. Results based on mothers' reports indicated that when parents received RE, children's exposure to conflict decreased. However, these findings were not corroborated by fathers or children. There were also no differences in children's emotional reactivity across conditions, and observable communication did not mediate the relation between randomization into RE and children's outcomes. Together, there was minimal evidence for the efficacy of RE on children's functioning. Results underscore the importance of evaluating multiple family members' perspectives and highlight the need for future work to consider these pathways in samples experiencing greater distress.