The Stable Low‐Conflict Index: A policy‐relevant outcome in government‐funded relationship education efforts

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• Author: Scott M. Stanley,Allen W. Barton,Lane L. Ritchie,Maggie O. T. Allen,Galena K. Rhoades
• Date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12845

RESEARCH

The Stable Low-Conflict Index: A policy-relevant

outcome in government-funded relationship education

efforts

Scott M. Stanley

1

|Allen W. Barton

2

|Lane L. Ritchie

1

|

Maggie O. T. Allen

1

|Galena K. Rhoades

1

1

Department of Psychology, University of

Denver, Denver, CO

2

Human Development and Family Studies,

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL

Correspondence

Scott M. Stanley, Department of Psychology,

University of Denver, 2155 South Race Street,

Denver, CO 80208-3500, USA.

Email: scott.stanley@du.edu

Funding information

Administration for Children and Families,

Grant/Award Number: 90FM0064

Abstract

Objective: We posit that evaluators of relationship educa-

tion interventions can explore a policy relevant outcome

by assessing relationship stability and conflict in a single

index that is based on the literature on the effects of

divorce and marital distress on children. We provide an

empirical example from a randomized trial.

Background: The U.S. Administration for Children and

Families funds community-based projects using relation-

ship education with a foundational goal of fostering stable

and healthy relationships. Assessing this outcome requires

an approach different from separately analyzing stability

and relationship quality.

Method: We used data (N=1,156 couples) from a ran-

domized trial of Family Expectations to test the Stable

Low-Conflict Index, comparing couples assigned to the

intervention to couples assigned to an untreated control

group at a follow-up 8 to 9 months postintervention.

Results: Intervention couples were more likely to be in a sta-

ble, low-conflict relationship at the follow up than control

couples (b=.36, SE =.15, odds ratio =1.44, p=.014).

Conclusion: An index based on empirical precedence

showed evidence of an intervention impact in a community-

based program.

Implications: Evaluators of family policy linked interven-

tions may advance the field by exploring outcomes that

encapsulate aspects of both relationship stability and quality.

KEYWORDS

couple/marital/romantic relationships, prevention/intervention programs

and issues

Received: 6 April 2022Revised: 16 November 2022Accepted: 26 December 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12845

© 2023 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2023;72:2647–2663. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 2647

The U.S. federal government has funded community-based programs to foster healthy mar-

riages, couple relationships, and stable families. It is arguably the largest, sustained public effort

of its kind in history. These efforts were launched by the Administration for Children and Fam-

ilies (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a series of demonstra-

tion grants in 2005 to various community programs. Since its inception, this initiative has been

considered controversial, with arguments over whether the relationship services were effective,

and whether the money would be better spent on other services for the disadvantaged. Those

debates have been well captured in various books and papers (e.g., Hawkins, 2019;

Randles, 2016). Despite arguments about policy, the initiative resulted in relationship education

interventions becoming more widely accessible for those who are economically disadvantaged

(see Hawkins, 2019).

One of the initial criticisms of these efforts funded by ACF was that the efforts would

encourage women to remain in unsafe relationships (for a discussion, see Hughes, 2004). In

response to such criticisms, policy leaders emphasized that the goal was to support “healthy”

marriages and relationships. This goal was asserted from the earliest days of the initiative by

Wade Horn (2002), the ACF assistant secretary at that time, who led the development and

launch of the initiative (see also Ooms & Wilson, 2004; Stanley, 2004). This focus on fostering

healthy relationships was more than merely politically useful; it better fit the conditions under

which adults and their children might do best. The emphasis on health (and safety) in relation-

ships also allowed many people to work together who otherwise would have remained at odds,

including groups that did not have a history of collaboration, such as relationshipeducators

and domestic violence advocates (see Ooms et al., 2006; Stanley et al., 2020).

Adding to the rationale for considering relationship quality and stability in some combina-

tion is the fact that massive societal changes over the past 60 years have led to large changes in

how couples and families are formed (Smock & Schwartz, 2020; Wolfinger, 2023). Among the

dramatic changes over this period are large increases in both cohabitation and the likelihoodof

children being born to unmarried parents. Consequential relationship transitions now occur for

many at earlier stages of relationship development, and often at a rapid pace. These factors can

reduce opportunities for two people to have determined the quality of their relationship or the

level and mutuality of their commitment to a future together before becoming more inter-

twined, with the consequence being lower quality and more fragile relationships

(e.g., Manning, 2015; McLanahan & Garfinkel, 2000;O’Reilly Treter et al., 2020; Rhoades

et al., 2012; Sassler et al., 2012; Sassler & Miller, 2017; Sawhill, 2014; Stanley et al., 2006).

These larger societal shifts mean that there is a great deal of heterogeneity in the type, quality,

and viability of the relationships of those most often served in programs funded by ACF, mak-

ing an emphasis on fostering healthy relationships particularly important.

Despite this original emphasis and the strong rationale for it, surprisingly little conceptual

and empirical research has addressed the question of what a healthy relationship or marriage

means in this context. This scarcity of research is particularly evident regarding evidence of pro-

gram impacts consistent with this goal. Consequently, establishing a type of metric to document

the presence or absence of a healthy relationship is pivotal to both policy and practice surround-

ing this initiative. In this article, we provide a framework for one answer to this question that

goes beyond thinking about program impacts on single dimensions (e.g., stability or communi-

cation). Instead, we present a conceptualization of a new measure—the percent of couples in a

stable, low-conflict relationship—that is consistent with the policy goal of fostering healthy, sta-

ble relationships. As described here, the measure we propose is based on a precedent in the liter-

ature on the effects of marital stability, distress, and divorce on children’s long-term outcomes.

Further, we analyze this new outcome in a large randomized controlled trial of an ACF-funded

program.

2648 FAMILY RELATIONS