Supplemental Materials
“Is Couple and Relationship Education Effective for Lower Income Participants? A Meta-Analytic Study”
by A. J. Hawkins & S. E. Erickson, 2015, Journal of Family Psychology
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000045
Appendix 1. Contributing reports in the Hawkins & Erickson (2015) Meta-analysis.
Author Name and Year
* = quasi-experimental
Building Strong Families
(N = 751)
(N = 534)
(N = 503)
(N = 597)
(N = 398)
(N = 852)
(N = 282)
Carlson, et al. (in press)
(N = 54)
Cox & Shirer (2009)*
Couple and Relationship Education Meta-analysis with Lower Income Couples
Control-Group Studies
Contributing Reports
Wood, R. G., Moore, Q., Clarkwest, A., Killewald, A., & Monahan, S. (2012). The
long-term effects of Building Strong Families: A relationship skills education
program for unmarried parents, OPRE Report #2012-28A. Washington, DC:
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and
Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/index.html
This report was analyzed separately by site:
BSF: Atlanta (p. 48-57)
BSF: Baltimore (p. 58-67)
BSF: Baton Rouge (p. 68-77)
BSF: Florida (p. 78 – 89)
BSF: Indiana (p. 100-109)
BSF: Oklahoma City (p. 110-120)
BSF: San Angelo ( p. 121-129)
BSF: Houston (did not contribute follow-up effects due to high attrition)
Carlson, R. G., Barden, S. M., Daire, A. P., & Greene, J. (In-press). Influence of
relationship education on relationship satisfaction for low-income couples.
Journal of Counseling and Development.
Cox, R. B., Jr., & Shirer, K. A. (2009). Caring For My Family: A pilot study of a
Effect Sizes
d
p
-.006
-.077
-.046
-.161
-.051
.058
.025
.939
.390
.621
.054
.616
.411
.835
1.030
.000
.220
.342
(N = 85)
Cowan et al. (2009)
(N = 193)
Owen & Antle (2014)*
(N = 154)
Rienks et al. (2011)
(N = 85)
Shamblen et al. (2013)*
(N = 214)
Stanley et al. (in press)
(N = 516)
Supporting Healthy Marriage
relationship and marriage eduation program for low-income unmarried
parents. Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, 8, 343-364.
Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Pruett, M. K., Pruett, K., & Wong, J. J. (2009). Promoting
fathers’ engagement with children: Preventive interventions for low-income
families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71, 663–679.
Owen, J., & Antle, B. (2014) Individual relationship education program as primary
prevention for intimate partner violence. Manuscript under review.
Rienks, S. L., Wadsworth, M. E., Markman, H. J., Einhorn, L., & Etter, E. M. (2011).
Father involvement in urban low‐income fathers: Baseline associations and
changes resulting from preventive intervention. Family Relations: An
Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 60(2), 191–204.
Wadsworth, M. E., Santiago, C. D., Einhorn, L., Etter, E. M., Rienks, S. & Markman,
H. (2011). Preliminary efficacy of an intervention to reduce psychosocial stress
and improve coping in low-income families. Am J Community Psychol, 48, 257271.
Shamblen, S. R., Arnold, B. B., Mckiernan, P., Collins, D. A., & Strader, T. N. (2013).
Applying the Creating Lasting Family Connections Marriage Enhancement
Program to Marriages Affected by Prison Reentry. Family Process, 52(3), 477–
498.
Stanley, S. M., Rhoades, G. K., Loew, B. A., Allen, E. S., Carter, S., Osborne, L. J.,
Prentice, D., & Markman, H. J. (in press). Two-year outcome results from a
randomized clinical trial of relationship education with U. S. Army couples.
Family Relations.
Hsueh, J., Alderson, D. P., Lundquist, E., Michalopoulos, C., Gubits, D., Fein, D., &
Knox, V. (2012). The Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation: Early impacts
on low-income families. OPRE Report 2012-11. Washington, DC: Office of
Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Lundquist, E., Hsueh, J., Lowenstein, A., Faucetta, K., Gubits, D., Michalopoulos, C.,
& Knox, V. (2014). A family-strengthening program for low-income families:
Final impacts from the Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation. OPRE Report
2013-49A. Washington, D.C.: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation,
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
.189
.065
.301
.089
.400
.008
.335
.195
-.004
.947
Lowenstein, A. E., Altman, N., Chou, P. M., Faucetta, K., Greeney, A., Gubits, D.,
Harris, J., Hsueh, J., Lundquist, E., Michalopoulos, C. & V. Q. Nguyen (2014). A
family-strengthening program for low-income families: Final impacts from the
Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation, technical supplement. OPRE Report
2014-09B. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation,
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
This report was analyzed separately by site:
(N = 639)
SHM: Bronx (p. 182, 191)
.010
.836
(N = 654)
SHM: Oklahoma City (p. 183, 192)
.086
.061
(N = 687)
SHM: Orlando (p. 184, 193)
.083
.066
(N = 551)
SHM: Pennsylvania (p. 185, 194)
.049
.334
(N = 529)
SHM: Seattle (p. 186, 195)
.048
.360
(N = 641)
SHM: Shoreline (p. 187, 196)
.088
.060
(N = 673)
SHM: Texas (p. 188, 197)
.109
.017
(N = 660)
SHM: Wichita (p. 189, 198)
.093
.043
Note: Ns are analytic Ns and may vary somewhat for each outcome and by gender of respondent and other reporting features of the study.
Author Name and Year
Adler-Baeder, et al. (2013)
(N = 666)
Antle, et al. (2009)^
(N = 101)
Charles (2013)
(N = 185)
Cowan, et al. (2013)^
(N = 236)
Einhorn, et al. (2008)
(N = 128)
Facciglia & Eisenberg (2009)
(N = 96)
Hall (2013)
(N = 1,387)
Higginbotham & Skogrand
One-Group/Pre-post Studies (^ = follow-up effects; all other effects = post-test)
Contributing Reports
Adler-Baeder, F., Bradford, A., Skuban, E., Lucier-Greer, M., Ketring, S., & Smith, T.
(2010). Demographic Predictors of Relationship and Marriage Education
Participants’ Pre- and Post-Program Relational and Individual Functioning.
Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 9(2), 113–132.
Adler-Baeder, F., Calligas, A., Skuban, E., Keiley, M., Ketring, S., & Smith, T. (2013).
Linking Changes in Couple Functioning and Parenting Among Couple
Relationship Education Participants. Family Relations, 62(2), 284–297.
Adler-Baeder, F. (2013). Findings for adult participants of marriage and relationship
education (MRE) in years 1-5. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from
http://www.alabamamarriage.org/documents/research/ahmreibriefs/adultov
erall-2013.pdf.
Antle, B., Sar, B., Christensen, D., Ellers, F., Barbee, A., & van Zyl, M. (2013). The
Impact of the Within My Reach Relationship Training on Relationship Skills
and Outcomes for Low-Income Individuals. Journal of Marital & Family
Therapy, 39(3), 346–357.
Charles, P., Jones, A., & Guo, S. (2013). Treatment effects of a relationshipstrengthening intervention for economically disadvantaged new parents.
Research on Social Work Practice, 0(00), 1-18.
Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Pruett, M. K., Pruett, K., & Gillette, P. (In-press).
Evaluating a couples group to enhance father involvement in low-income
families using a benchmark comparison. Family Relations.
Einhorn, L., Williams, T., Stanley, S., Wunderlin, N., Markman, H., & Eason, J.
(2008). PREP Inside and Out: Marriage education for inmates. Family Process,
47, 341-356.
Facciglia, A., & Eisenberg, S. (2009). Administrative report. Weston, FL: PAIRS
Foundation.
Hall, Y. (unpublished). Cohabition effect among Hispanic couples: An appraisal of a
relationship education program. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
Higginbotham, B. J., & Skogrand, L. (2010). Relationship Education with Both
Effect Sizes
d
p
.139
.000
.241
.017
.061
.410
.036
.432
.417
.000
.272
.000
.261
.000
.180
.001
(2010)
(N = 364)
Married and Unmarried Stepcouples: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Couple
& Relationship Therapy, 9(2), 133–148.
[This study had 8 different samples separated by gender and ethnicity. Thus we
computed 8 different sets of effect sizes.]
Kortla & Dyer (2010)
Kortla, K., & Dyer, P. (2013) Hispanic Active Relationships project (HARP). Waco,
.554
.000
(N = 275)
TX: Baylor School of Social Work.
[This study had two different samples separated by low and high program dosage.]
Mitchell & Owen (2014)
Mitchell, A., & Owen, J. (2014). Family stress model and relationship education:
1.464
.000
(N = 299)
The importance of racial /ethnic minority couples’ dyadic coping. Manuscript
under review.
Ohalloran, et al. (2013)
O’Halloran, M. S., Rizzolo, S., Cohen, M. L., & Wacker, R. (2013). Assessing the
.430
.022
(N = 21)
Impact of a Multiyear Marriage Education Program. Family Journal, 21(3),
328–334.
Owen, et.al. (2012)
Owen, J., Quirk, K., Bergen, C., Inch, L. J., & France, T. (2012). The effectiveness of
1.424
.000
(N = 310)
PREP with lower‐income racial/ethnic minority couples. Journal of Marital and
Family Therapy, 38, 296–307.
Owen, et al. (2013)
Owen, J., Antle, B., & Barbee, A. (2013). Alliance and group cohesion in relationship
.284
.002
(N = 123)
education. Family Process, 52(3), 465–476.
Stanley, et al. (2005)
Stanley, S. M., Allen, E. S., Markman, H. J. Rhoades, G. K., Prentice, D. (2009).
.245
.000
(N = 335)
Decreasing divorce in army couples: Results from a randomized clinical trial.
Working paper, Center for Marital and Family Studies, University of Denver.
[This study had two different samples separated by age.]
Vanderwal & Manning(2008)
VanderWal, C., & Manning, W. (2008). Healthy marriage, healthy relationship,
.213
.000
(N = 714)
Grand Rapids: Administrative report. Grand Rapids, MI: Healthy Marriages,
Healthy Relationships.
Wilde & Doherty (2012)
Wilde, J. L., & Doherty, W. J. (2013). Outcomes of an Intensive Couple Relationship
.001
.995
(N = 33)
Education Program with Fragile Families. Family Process, 52(3), 455–464.
Note: Ns are analytic Ns and may vary somewhat for each outcome and by gender of respondent and other reporting features of the study.
References for Coded Studies in Hawkins & Erickson (2015)
(Note: Several studies had multiple reports using the same sample, so these were combined for
coding purposes but are listed here with a distinct reference. Some studies had multiple
independent samples, so they were coded separately. )
Adler-Baeder, F., Bradford, A., Skuban, E., Lucier-Greer, M., Ketring, S., & Smith, T. (2010).
Demographic predictors of relationship and marriage education participants’ pre- and
post-program relational and individual functioning. Journal of Couple & Relationship
Therapy, 9(2), 113–132. doi:10.1080/15332691003694885
Adler-Baeder, F., Calligas, A., Skuban, E., Keiley, M., Ketring, S., & Smith, T. (2013). Linking
changes in couple functioning and parenting among couple relationship education
participants. Family Relations, 62(2), 284–297. doi:10.1111/fare.12006
Adler-Baeder, F. (2013). Findings for adult participants of marriage and relationship education
(MRE) in years 1-5. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from
http://www.alabamamarriage.org/documents/research/ahmreibriefs/adultoverall-2013.pdf
Antle, B., Sar, B., Christensen, D., Ellers, F., Barbee, A., & van Zyl, M. (2013). The Impact of
the Within My Reach relationship training on relationship skills and outcomes for lowincome individuals. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 39(3), 346–357.
doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2012.00314.x
Carlson, R. G., Barden, S. M., Daire, A. P., & Greene, J. (in press). Influence of relationship
education on relationship satisfaction for low-income couples. Journal of Counseling and
Development.
Charles, P., Jones, A., & Guo, S. (2013). Treatment effects of a relationship-strengthening
intervention for economically disadvantaged new parents. Research on Social Work
Practice, 0(00), 1-18. doi 10.1177/1049731513497803
Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Pruett, M. K., Pruett, K., & Gillette, P. (in-press). Evaluating a
couples group to enhance father involvement in low-income families using a benchmark
comparison. Family Relations.
Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Pruett, M. K., Pruett, K., & Wong, J. J. (2009). Promoting fathers’
engagement with children: Preventive interventions for low-income families. Journal of
Marriage and Family, 71, 663–679. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00625.x
Cox, R. B., Jr., & Shirer, K. A. (2009). Caring For My Family: A pilot study of a relationship
and marriage education program for low-income unmarried parents. Journal of Couple &
Relationship Therapy, 8, 343-364. doi: 10.1080/15332690903246127
Einhorn, L., Williams, T., Stanley, S., Wunderlin, N., Markman, H., & Eason, J. (2008). PREP
Inside and Out: Marriage education for inmates. Family Process, 47, 341-356. doi:
10.1111/j.1545-5300.2008.00257.x
Facciglia, A., & Eisenberg, S. (2009). Administrative report. Weston, FL: PAIRS Foundation.
Hall, Y. (unpublished). Cohabitation effect among Hispanic couples: An appraisal of a
relationship education program. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses database.
Higginbotham, B. J., & Skogrand, L. (2010). Relationship education with both married and
unmarried stepcouples: An exploratory study. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy,
9, 133–148. doi:10.1080/15332691003694893Johnson, M. D. (2012). Healthy marriage
initiatives: On the need for empiricism in policy implementation. American Psychologist,
67, 296–308. doi: 10.1037/a0027743
Hsueh, J., Alderson, D. P., Lundquist, E., Michalopoulos, C., Gubits, D., Fein, D., & Knox, V.
(2012). The Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation: Early impacts on low-income
families. OPRE Report 2012-11. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and
Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
Kortla, K., & Dyer, P. (2013) Hispanic Active Relationships project (HARP). Waco, TX: Baylor
School of Social Work.
Lowenstein, A. E., Altman, N., Chou, P. M., Faucetta, K., Greeney, A., Gubits, D., Harris, J.,
Hsueh, J., Lundquist, E., Michalopoulos, C. & V. Q. Nguyen (2014). A familystrengthening program for low-income families: Final impacts from the Supporting
Healthy Marriage evaluation, technical supplement. OPRE Report 2014-09B.
Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for
Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Lundquist, E., Hsueh, J., Lowenstein, A., Faucetta, K., Gubits, D., Michalopoulos, C., & Knox,
V. (2014). A family-strengthening program for low-income families: Final impacts from
the Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation. OPRE Report 2013-49A. Washington, D.C.:
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Mitchell, A., & Owen, J. (2014). Family stress model and relationship education: The
importance of racial /ethnic minority couples’ dyadic coping. Manuscript under review.
O’Halloran, M. S., Rizzolo, S., Cohen, M. L., & Wacker, R. (2013). Assessing the impact of a
multiyear marriage education program. Family Journal, 21, 328–334.
doi:10.1177/1066480713476849
Owen, J., Quirk, K., Bergen, C., Inch, L. J., & France, T. (2012). The effectiveness of PREP with
lower-income racial/ethnic minority couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38,
296–307. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2012.00294.x
Owen, J., Antle, B., & Barbee, A. (2013). Alliance and group cohesion in relationship education.
Family Process, 52, 465–476. doi:10.1111/famp.12039
Owen, J., & Antle, B. (2014) Individual relationship education program as primary prevention
for intimate partner violence. Manuscript under review.
Rienks, S. L., Wadsworth, M. E., Markman, H. J., Einhorn, L., & Etter, E. M. (2011). Father
involvement in urban low‐income fathers: Baseline associations and changes resulting
from preventive intervention. Family Relations, 60, 191–204. doi:10.1111/j.17413729.2010.00642.x
Shamblen, S. R., Arnold, B. B., Mckiernan, P., Collins, D. A., & Strader, T. N. (2013). Applying
the Creating Lasting Family Connections marriage enhancement program to marriages
affected by prison reentry. Family Process, 52, 477–498. doi:10.1111/famp.12003
Stanley, S. M., Allen, E. S., Markman, H. J., Saiz, C. C., Bloomstrom, G., Thomas, R., Schumm,
W. R., & Bailey, A. E. (2005). Dissemination and evaluation of marriage education in the
army. Family process, 44, 187-201. doi: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2005.00053.x
Stanley, S. M., Rhoades, G. K., Loew, B. A., Allen, E. S., Carter, S., Osborne, L. J., Prentice, D.,
& Markman, H. J. (in press). Two-year outcome results from a randomized clinical trial
of relationship education with U. S. Army couples. Family Relations.
VanderWal, C., & Manning, W. (2008). Healthy marriage, healthy relationship, Grand Rapids:
Administrative report. Grand Rapids, MI: Healthy Marriages, Healthy Relationships.
Wadsworth, M. E., Santiago, C. D., Einhorn, L., Etter, E. M., Rienks, S. & Markman, H. (2011).
Preliminary efficacy of an intervention to reduce psychosocial stress and improve coping in lowincome families. Am J Community Psychol, 48, 257-271. doi: 10.1007/s10464-010-9384-z
Wilde, J. L., & Doherty, W. J. (2013). Outcomes of an intensive couple relationship education
program with fragile families. Family Process, 52, 455–464. doi:10.1111/famp.12012
Wood, R. G., Moore, Q., Clarkwest, A., Killewald, A., & Monahan, S. (2012). The long-term
effects of Building Strong Families: A relationship skills education program for unmarried
parents, OPRE Report #2012-28A. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and
Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/index.html
Wood, R. G., Moore, Q., Clarkwest, A., & Killewald, A. (2014). The long-term effects of
Building Strong Families: A programs for unmarried parents. Journal of Marriage and
Family, 76, 446-463. doi: 10.1111/jomf.12094