- Marriage and other committed couple relationships are extremely important influences on the health and well being of partners, children and the community. A healthy, well functioning and stable relationship is associated with greater resilience to stressful events, better physical and mental health, and greater work productivity. Relationship problems and breakdown are associated with increased domestic violence, poorer health, and loss of work productivity. Divorce and relationship problems accrue substantial economic costs to the couple, and to the community. The strengthening of marriage and family relationships, and the reduction of the prevalence of relationship problems and separations have the potential to greatly enhance the personal, social and economic well being of Australians.
- There is a large body of research evidence showing that certain static risk indicators predict couples at high risk for relationship problems and separation. For example, parental divorce or violence in the family of origin, living together before marriage, being under 21 at the time of marriage, and a history of depression or anxiety disorders in either partner, all predict high risk of relationship breakdown. Whilst many of these risk indicators cannot be modified (e.g. family history), most risk indicators can easily be assessed. Risk assessment can guide couples and service providers as to which couples are at most risk for future relationship problems. Such information can be used to ensure high-risk couples are able to access marriage and relationship education.
- There also is a substantial body of research evidence showing certain dynamic risk factors predict relationship problems. Risk factors potentially are changeable, and include poor communication and conflict management, unrealistic relationship expectations, inadequate partner mutual support, lack of a balance of shared and individual activities, and inequitable division of household tasks and responsibilities. Helping couples acquire the knowledge and skills to change these risk factors should be the primary targets of relationship education.
- Relationship problems often develop during times of transition for couples. In particular, the initial transition to marriage or cohabitation, the transition to parenthood, times of crisis, major illness, and retirement are times when couples need to adapt to changing circumstances. The time after separation and when re-partnering, particularly when forming a stepfamily, also constitute high-risk times for the development of relationship problems. Couples with known risk factors often find these transitions difficult, and this is associated with increased risk for relationship problems. However, couples are particularly open to education to cope at these times of transition, and marriage and relationship education should be targeted at couples who are undergoing such transitions.
- Relationship education as delivered in Australia, and in most western countries, varies widely in the content, mode of delivery and skills of the educators delivering the programs. Three general approaches to relationship education can be identified: information and awareness, assessment and feedback via standardized inventories, and skills training. Information and awareness usually involves provision of didactic or written materials, and discussion of expectations and relationship processes. There may be demonstrations of key relationship skills, but there is little or no active skills training. Assessment and feedback involves the completion of standardized inventories by the partners, and the provision of feedback and sometimes relationship goal setting with couples. Recently some demonstration of skills has been added to some of these assessment and feedback programs. Skills training involves structured training of key relationship skills such as communication and conflict management. Most relationship education offered in Australia is of the information and awareness approach, with increasing use of assessment and feedback. The use of skills training programs is limited in the field at the moment.
- The vast majority of research on the effects of relationship education is focused on the short-term effects of programs for couples getting married or entering a cohabiting relationship. The research shows that well-run information and awareness, assessment and feedback, and skills training premarital relationship education programs all consistently are evaluated positively by participants. Moreover, participants report they learn ideas they value. Skills training programs have been shown to produce reliable improvements in communication and conflict management. The effects of information and awareness, and assessment and feedback, programs have not been evaluated within controlled trials, and their effects on couples' relationship skills are unknown.
- There is very little research on the medium and long-term effects of relationship education in enhancing relationship satisfaction or reducing rates of separation in couples in committed relationships. There are no studies on the medium or long-term effects of information and awareness, or assessment and feedback approaches to relationship education. A small number of studies have been published on the long-term effects of skills training approaches to relationship education. Skills training is associated with enhanced relationship satisfaction, and may decrease risk of divorce, across the first four to five years of marriage. The effects of skills based premarital education programs appear to attenuate over a 5 to 10 year period.
- Relationship education to assist the transition to parenthood, adjustment after separation, formation of stepfamilies, and coping with major stresses have all been described in the literature, but there is a dearth of systematic research on these programs. The few available controlled trials suggest that skills training programs that focus on particular knowledge and skills associated with the transition concerned have the best effects.
- The content of many marriage and relationship education programs have developed relatively independently of available knowledge on the determinants of relationship satisfaction and the effects of different approaches to relationship education. Given that skills based marriage and relationship education has the strongest scientific support for its effectiveness, this approach is under-represented in the practice of marriage and relationship education in Australia.
- Most marriage and relationship education currently is targeted at couples entering committed relationships or getting married. This is an important transition at which to encourage couples to relationship education, and should continue to be a major focus of marriage and relationship education efforts. However, it is unlikely that relationship education offered only at the transition into committed relationships will attract all couples likely to benefit from relationship education. Nor is it likely that relationship education offered only at the transition to marriage or cohabitation will prevent relationship problems in couples 10 or more years after marriage. There is a need to broaden the transition points at which marriage and relationship education is offered.
- Approximately one third of couples marrying in Australian attend some form of relationship education. The two-thirds of couples who do not access relationship education tend to be: ethnic minority couples, particularly indigenous Australians and people from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds, couples with fewer years of formal education, couples living in rural and remote areas, couples married in civil rather than religious ceremonies, couples cohabiting with their partner before marriage, and young couples.
Recommendation 1: A project should be undertaken to develop and disseminate resource materials to assist educators to provide skills based relationship education. The provision of resource materials should be complemented by the provision of affordable training opportunities to develop educator skills in skills based relationship education. The skills based relationship education resource materials should be designed to prepare couples for a variety of life transitions including the entry to committed relationships, the transition to parenthood, formation of step families, and providing mutual support during time of severe illness, relocation, and retirement. The resource materials should be developed collaboratively with multiple relationship education agencies and be evaluated for their participant satisfaction and effect on dynamic relationship risk factors.
Resource materials development should also be targeted at enhancing access to skills based relationship education by indigenous Australians and ethnic groups from non-English speaking backgrounds. An emphasis should be on the development of culturally appropriate resource materials that support skills based relationship education. Development of materials needs to be a collaborative effort between the communities to be assisted to access programs, and relationship educators. Training should be available to culturally appropriate leaders for delivery of programs. These initiatives should be evaluated for their success in engaging low access couples, the satisfaction of those couples with the services they receive, and the extent to which couples change on key risk factors believed to predict subsequent risk of relationship problems.
- Low attendance at premarital education also is associated with reported attitudes that marriage "should occur naturally", "is private", and that marriage education "is only for people with problems", "is irrelevant to me", "would try to force certain values on me", or "would not be useful". There is a widespread opinion within the field of relationship educators that marketing to promote a view of pre-marriage education as normal would enhance attendance of relationship education programs. However, to date there is little evidence that mass media marketing programs have been successful.
- Almost all relationship education programs in Australia are offered in a faceto- face format. Flexible delivery relationship education programs offered through printed material, audiovisual materials, or web sites have the potential to enhance accessibility of programs for couples.
Recommendation 2: The development and evaluation of flexible delivery relationship education programs for couples need to be encouraged through a series of pilot initiatives. These flexible development programs should focus on the teaching of relationship skills, and different programs should be developed to target key couples transitions such as the entry into committed relationships, the transition to parenthood, separation, re-partnering and forming stepfamilies, supporting each other during major illness, and retirement. Programs should be subjected to preliminary evaluation in terms of participant satisfaction and effects on relationship risk factors. Should the programs show promise, randomized controlled trials of programs should be undertaken.
- Couples at high risk for relationship problems probably are less likely to attend marriage and relationship education than other couples. The extent of this under-representation of high-risk couples in attendees of marriage and relationship education in Australia is unknown. Most education providers do not assess levels of risk.
- Most marriage and relationship education programs in Australia are targeted at couples entering a committed relationship, primarily couples getting married. Most couples in Australia who attend marriage and relationship education do so on the recommendation of a religious marriage celebrant; civil celebrants are much less likely to offer or recommend marriage and relationship education. Increasing the accessibility of marriage and relationship education to couples not attending religious marriage ceremonies is important.
Recommendation 3: A project should be initiated between relationship educators and researchers to develop agreed-on methods for routinely assessing the risk profiles of couples attending marriage and relationship education. Once baseline data are established, a collaborative project to enhance the engagement of high-risk couples in relationship education should be initiated.
A collaborative project working with civil celebrants, the providers of marriage and relationship education, and researcher(s) to enhance rates of provision of marriage and relationship education to couples being married by civil celebrants is highly desirable. This project should focus on the development of better materials to inform couples of the benefits of relationship education, and provide clear information on the content of a wide variety of education programs.
- Existing research on the long-term effects of marriage and relationship education is very limited. The content of skills training approaches best reflects what the research evidence suggests is most likely to enhance relationship satisfaction and stability. Moreover, skills training approaches have the most evidence collected but still lack replication of a randomized controlled trial establishing effectiveness. The use of assessment and feedback methods of marriage and relationship education has grown enormously in Australia in the last 10 years. These programs have the advantages of being structured, which enhances quality assurance, and being developed from psychological research on predictors of relationship satisfaction and stability. Unfortunately there is no scientifically adequate research evaluating the effects of these programs.
Recommendation 4: Large-scale multi-site trials of the long-term effects of best practice approaches to relationship education are needed. More specifically, a randomized clinical trial of skills based relationship education is needed. This study should compare an information and discussion program, and a skills training program. Couples volunteering for the research should be randomly assigned to the intervention condition, and assessment of outcomes should continue for at least four years after the program is delivered. The design should include evaluation of the effects of the programs on couples at high and low risk for relationship problems.
A controlled trial of PREPARE, FOCCUSS, or both, also is highly desirable. Tenders should be called for experienced researchers to conduct such a study in Australia. Collaboration in the conduct of this study between the researcher(s), service providers, and the original developers of the programs to be evaluated is desirable. The research should evaluate the effect of inventories against an information and awareness approach, and the effects should be evaluated at least four years after delivery of the program. The design should include evaluation of the effects of the programs on couples at high and low risk for relationship problems.
- The above recommendations can be summarized as falling into four projects. First, to promote the use of empirically supported approaches to marriage and relationship education through the development of resource materials and training opportunities for educators. Second, to develop resource materials that can be used as flexible delivery, self-directed learning programs. Third, to promote accessibility of relationship education by diversifying the points of entry to relationship education, and promoting access by couples whom currently under-utilize relationship education. Fourth, to conduct rigorous scientific evaluation of the long-term effects of best practice approaches to relationship education.