Does Social and Economic Disadvantage Moderate the Effects of Relationship Education on Unwed Couples? An Analysis of Data from the 15‐Month Building Strong Families Evaluation

• Author: Paul R. Amato
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12069
• Published date: 01 July 2014
• Date: 01 July 2014

PAUL R. AMATO Pennsylvania State University

Does Social and Economic Disadvantage Moderate

the Effects of Relationship Education on Unwed

Couples? An Analysis of Data from the 15-Month

Building Strong Families Evaluation

Building Strong Families programs provide

relationship education and other support ser-

vices to unmarried couples with young children.

This study used data from the 15-month Building

Strong Families evaluation to test the hypoth-

esis that the degree of social and economic

disadvantage moderates the effects of program

participation. To test this hypothesis, the author

constructed a disadvantage index based on 11

known social and economic correlates of poor

relationship quality and instability. Disadvan-

tage and treatment did not interact significantly

in predicting relationship stability but did inter-

act significantly in predicting relationship qual-

ity among couples that stayed together. The

negative association between disadvantage and

relationship quality was weaker in the treatment

group than in the control group.

The Administration for Children and Fami-

lies (U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services) initiated the Building Strong Fam-

ilies (BSF) project in 2002. This project

Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University,

211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802 (paulam-

ato00@gmail.com).

Key Words: couple relationships, low-income families,

marriage and relationship education, program outcomes

and evaluation.

involves the development and evaluation

of relationship education programs for unmar-

ried couples with young children. Most of these

couples face a variety of economic and social

disadvantages, and their relationships tend to

be unstable. The goal of BSF programs is to

strengthen the quality and stability of these

unions and, in so doing, improve the well-being

of children.

In 2005, Mathematica Policy Research (MPR)

began a formal evaluation of BSF programs in

eight sites. Over a 3-year period, more than

5,000 couples were enrolled, with the first round

of evaluations occurring about 15 months after

couples entered the program. The 15-month

evaluation found, with all eight sites pooled,

no impacts of the program on the likelihood that

couples married or stayed together. Similarly,

the program had no effects on relationship

quality (happiness, support, constructive and

destructive conflict behaviors, faithfulness, and

physical aggression) among those who remained

together (Wood, McConnell, Moore, Clarkwest,

& Hsueh, 2010). One site (Oklahoma City)

showed a consistent pattern of positive effects

on relationship quality, whereas another site

(Baltimore) showed a consistent pattern of

negative effects. The remaining six sites revealed

little evidence of program effects. The evaluation

also found that couples in which both partners

were African American (but not couples from

Family Relations 63 (July 2014): 343–355 343

DOI:10.1111/fare.12069