Parents as Partners: A U.K. Trial of a U.S. Couples-Based Parenting Intervention For At-Risk Low-Income Families

Profiles of Low-Income Help-Seeking Couples and Implications for Intervention Gains: A Couple-Centered Approach

Using a couple-centered approach, the current study seeks to understand (a) the specific ways in which help-seeking couples vary in how their relationship satisfaction changes over time, (b) whether there are important differences in relationship characteristics at the beginning of the interventions, and (c) whether couples with distinct relationship characteristics benefit equally from effective online relationship programs. Mixed-gender low-income couples (Ncouple = 659) seeking help for their relationship were randomly assigned to one of two online relationship programs (n = 432) or the wait-list control group (n = 227). Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify (a) trajectory profiles with both partners' relationship satisfaction assessed at baseline, during, and postprogram, and at 2- and 4-month follow-ups; and (b) baseline couple profiles with indicators of baseline communication, commitment, emotional support, and sexual satisfaction reported by both partners. Four unique satisfaction trajectories were identified: women-small-men-medium improvement (39%), men-only decline (25%), large improvement (19%), and women-only improvement (17%). Five unique baseline couple profiles were identified: conflictual passionate (30%), companionate (22%), men-committed languishing (22%), satisfied (16%), and languishing (10%). Compared to control couples, intervention couples' odds of following the large improvement trajectory increased and their odds of following the men-only decline trajectory decreased; the odds of following the other two intermediate trajectories did not differ by intervention status. Moreover, couples with more distressed baseline profiles were more likely to follow trajectories characterized by greater satisfaction gains regardless of their intervention status. However, program effects did not differ based on baseline couple profiles, suggesting that a universal approach may be sufficient for delivering online relationship programs to improve relationship satisfaction in this population.

Relational concerns and change in relationship satisfaction in a relationship education program

Lower income couples tend to report more difficulty sustaining high-quality intimate relationships. As a result, policy initiatives have been enacted to fund relationship education (RE) programs that aim to increase lower income couples' relationship satisfaction. Generally, these programs demonstrate small, albeit statistically significant improvements in mean levels of relationship functioning. It is critical, however, to understand if RE programming influences the developmental course of intimate relationships, and if this influence depends on couples' initial levels of concerns about their relationships. Using dyadic group-based modeling and three waves of data from 6034 couples in the Supporting Healthy Marriages project, a randomized control trial of RE, we categorized couples into four relationship concern groups (No Relational Concerns, Both Relationally Concerned, Men's Relational Concerns, and Women's Relational Concerns) and explored how these groups moderated the long-term efficacy of RE programming. Results indicated that RE was associated with different developmental trajectories of satisfaction, but RE effects differed for men and women. Specifically, random assignment into RE was associated with men maintaining high levels of relationship satisfaction, whereas women's satisfaction decreased over time. These effects were not moderated by initial relationship concerns. The association between RE and relationship satisfaction trajectories was small in magnitude, suggesting that more comprehensive services are needed to strengthen lower income couples' intimate relationships.

Do high-risk couples profit more or less from couple relationship education programs than low-risk couples? Room for improvement and vulnerability effects

In recent years it has been discussed whether high-risk couples benefit more from Couple Relationship Education programs (CREs) than low-risk couples due to larger room for improvement, or profit less due to greater vulnerability. Pertinent response prediction studies yielded inconclusive results. Careful review suggests this may be due to: statistical handling (not disentangling room for improvement and vulnerability effects), time frame analyzed (not disentangling opposing effects during intervention and follow-up), sampling, and selection of risk factors. We used an analytic strategy that maximized odds for replicability and tested two hypotheses: (1) room for improvement: pre-intervention relationship dissatisfaction predicts gain in satisfaction during intervention, and decline during follow up, and (2) vulnerability: when adjusted for room for improvement (pre-intervention relationship dissatisfaction), risk factors show negative or negligible, but no positive associations with gain in satisfaction. Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) was employed in 79 self-referred (SR) couples and 50 clinician-referred (CR) couples who had completed the 'Hold me Tight' program, a CRE based on Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Our findings supported both the room for improvement hypothesis, with pre-intervention dissatisfaction predicting more gain during intervention (both samples) and decline during follow-up (SR sample, for the CR sample the effect was negligible), and the vulnerability hypothesis, as several negative, but no positive effects of risk factors were observed during intervention and follow-up. Specific risk factors did not replicate between samples. To promote replicable results in future research, we advocate disentangling room for improvement and vulnerability effects, separately testing effects during intervention and follow-up, purposeful sampling, and studying a large set of risk factors including partner variables.

TRUE Dads: The impact of a couples-based fatherhood intervention on family relationships, child outcomes, and economic self-sufficiency

TRUE Dads, a federally funded Responsible Fatherhood intervention, aims to strengthen three of men's key roles in the family: (1) as fathers, building and maintaining positive engagement with their child; (2) as partners, maintaining a positive relationship with their co-parent; and (3) as providers, through fostering employment and economic self-sufficiency. A feature of the program is that low-income fathers and their co-parenting partners participate together in 6 3-hour group workshops, followed by optional participation in an additional 6 3-hour workshops. Fathers in the intervention condition were offered a chance to participate in a 2-week employment program. 1,042 co-parenting teams were recruited and randomly assigned to TRUE Dads' group intervention (60%) or a no-treatment control group (40%). In analyses of single measures, one year after study entry, compared with no-treatment controls, TRUE Dads program participants reported fewer depressive symptoms, less destructive couple communication and domestic violence, and increased employment for fathers. Using expanded latent variable measures of core constructs, Structural Equation Modeling revealed indirect effects of the intervention, in which reductions in both parents' negative symptoms and destructive couple communication were associated with (a) reductions in negative parenting qualities and children's behavior problems and (b) increases in fathers' economic self-sufficiency. Reducing parents' personal distress and improving relationship quality between co-parents appears to be important to enhancing fathers' positive family engagement. From a family policy perspective, the results suggest that integration rather than separation of healthy marriage, responsible fatherhood, and employment programs could provide synergistic power to programs designed to strengthen low-income families.

Support for Families During COVID-19 in Spain: The iCygnus Online Tool for Parents

On March 14, 2020 one of the strictest confinements in Europe was imposed on the citizens of Spain. The online tool for parents, iCygnus, was designed to reduce the psychological impact generated by the pandemic on the child population (2-12 years of age) through automatic recommendations to parents based on individual responses about their parenting styles and their child's characteristics. The profiles of the 710 families indicate a higher prevalence of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in children, as well as a relationship between punitive parenting in families where the parents lost their jobs due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The usefulness of the help offered by iCygnus was evaluated after 6 weeks, and almost 80% of the families indicated that they used the recommendations and that they helped them in their relationship with their children.

The Relationship Between Social Support and Family Relationships Among Low-Income Couples Attending Relationship Education

Results are mixed for relationship education (RE) interventions with low-income couples. For couples who experienced positive changes, it is not clear what aspects of program models contributed to change. Many low-income couples attend government-funded RE with limited access to social and community resources. Program models often provide related resources complimentary to RE skill-building. We examined the relationship between income, social support, and family functioning for low-income, ethnically diverse couples (N = 856) who attended RE, as well as the mediating effects of social support on family functioning outcomes. Analyses included three separate dyadic models that examined associations among constructs at baseline and immediately following the RE intervention. Results demonstrated relationships between participants' reported social support and family functioning such that (a) social support was associated with baseline family functioning for both men and women; (b) men's baseline social support was influenced by women's baseline family functioning; and (c) men's and women's social support change score had a positive influence on their own family functioning change score. However, social support was not a significant mediator of change in family functioning. Implications for RE practice and research are also discussed.

Direct and indirect effects of a couple-focused preventive intervention on children's outcomes: A randomized controlled trial with African American families

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effects of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) prevention program on children's outcomes more than 2 years after enrollment, including direct effects of the intervention and indirect effects through couple functioning and parent-child relations.

METHOD

Three hundred forty-six African American couples with an early adolescent child participated; all families lived in rural, low-income communities in the southern United States. Families were randomly assigned to ProSAAF or control conditions and completed four waves of data collection. Couples reported couple functioning at baseline (Wave 1) and at 9-month follow-up (Wave 2), and parent-child relations at 17-month follow-up (Wave 3). Children reported their conduct problems, affiliation with deviant peers, substance use, sexual onset, depressive symptoms, and self-control at 25-month follow-up (Wave 4).

RESULTS

Path analyses indicated significant indirect effects of ProSAAF on children's outcomes through improvements in couple functioning and better parent-child relations. There were no significant direct effects of the intervention on children's outcomes or significant indirect effects through couple functioning alone.

CONCLUSIONS

This couple-focused prevention program has positive indirect effects on several child outcomes through the intervening processes of promoting improvements in couple functioning and better parent-child relations. These findings provide cautious optimism regarding the possible benefits of couple-focused programming on participants' children while suggesting ways in which future couple-focused interventions could yield stronger effects on these youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The influence of attachment representations and co-parents' scripted knowledge of attachment on fathers' and mothers' caregiving representations

Despite increased engagement of men in parenting, paternal caregiving representations have not been investigated, and potential gender differences in the links between parents' attachment representations and their caregiving representations are unexplored. The present study investigated fathers' and mothers' (N = 77) representations of caregiving, and links to their own and their co-parents' current mental representations of attachment. Parents were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Parental-Caregiving Attachment Interview (P-CAI), and co-parents' attachment scripts were measured with the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA). Our results demonstrate several similarities between mothers' and fathers' caregiving representations, but gender differences emerged in probable rejecting and neglecting parental behaviors. For both fathers and mothers, we found systematic differences in caregiving-specific state of mind dimensions on the P-CAI, depending on the parent's attachment classification on the AAI. Importantly, co-parent attachment security, but not parent gender was associated with the likelihood of being classified as autonomous with respect to caregiving.

"His mind will work better with both of us": a qualitative study on fathers' roles and coparenting of young children in rural Pakistan

Background

Parents are the primary providers of nurturing care for young children’s healthy early development. However, the literature on parenting in early childhood, especially in low- and middle-income countries, has primarily focused on mothers. In this study, we investigate how parents make meaning of fathers’ parenting roles with regards to their young children’s early health and development in rural Pakistan.

Methods

Data were collected between January and March 2017 through in-depth interviews with fathers (N = 33) and their partners (N = 32); as well as separate focus group discussions with fathers (N = 7) and mothers (N = 7). Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.

Results

Parents described a distinct division of roles between fathers and mothers; and also several shared caregiving roles of fathers and mothers. Specifically, parents highlighted aspects of fathers’ coparenting and several common ways by which fathers supported their partners. We found that these gendered divisions in parenting roles were strongly embedded within a complex network of interacting factors across the individual, family, and sociocultural contexts of the study community.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest a more family-centered conceptualization of fatherhood during early childhood that encompasses both fathers’ direct engagement with their young children and their indirect contributions through coparenting, while recognizing a variety of contextual systems that shape paternal parenting. Future parenting interventions that reflect the lived experiences of both fathers and mothers as parents and partners may further enhance the nurturing care environments that are critical for promoting healthy early child development.