Testing the Effectiveness of Behavioral Text Messages to Promote Attendance at HMRE Sessions

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The University of Florida offers relationship education programs named ELEVATE, for couples, and Smart Steps, for couples in stepfamilies, in Citrus, Duval, Manatee, Palm Beach, and Santa Rosa counties. Each workshop comprises 4 2.5-hour long sessions. The STREAMS evaluation will examine whether text messages informed by behavioral insight theory can improve couples' attendance at relationship skills education group sessions, and if so, which kinds of messages are most effective

Detailed Description
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The University of Florida operates the SMART program, which will offer four relationship education programs, each targeting a different population: (1) Relationship Smarts PLUS, for high school youth; (2) Before You Tie the Knot, for couples interested in marriage; (3) ELEVATE, for couples, and (4) Smart Steps, for couples in stepfamilies. All programming is offered through the University of Florida's IFAS Extension service in Citrus, Duval, Manatee, Palm Beach, and Santa Rosa counties. The STREAMS evaluation will test text messaging strategies with couples enrolled in ELEVATE and Smart Steps. It will examine whether text messages informed by behavioral insight theory can improve couples' attendance at relationship skills education group sessions, and if so, which kinds of messages are most effective. ACF staff have noted that among the most common technical assistance requests from HMRE grantees are help with improving participation. Even if relationship skills sessions are offered in a convenient location where adults receive other services and even if programs offer transportation, child care and other assistance to facilitate regular program attendance, achieving consistent participation in these voluntary programs can be challenging. The University of Florida study will help address these challenges by examining whether text messages based on behavioral theories can work as a simple, practical strategy for improving program participation in group sessions. More broadly, the site will also add to the large and growing effort across the federal government to study the use of behavioral interventions or nudges to improve social programs.

Official Title
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Testing the Effectiveness of Behavioral Text Messages to Promote Attendance at HMRE Sessions

Conditions
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Family Relations, Marriage

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Behavioral Text Messages


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Couple Both partners consent to receive text messages Exclusion Criteria: Single Adults Either Partner or both do not consent to receive text messages
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Behavioral Text Messages<br>Couples assigned to a treatment group will receive weekly behavioral theory-based messages encouraging them to attend the sessions. | Behavioral: Behavioral Text Messages<br> <br> |
| No Intervention: Simple Reminder Text Messages<br>Couples in the control group will receive simple reminder text messages that include the date, time, and location of their next group session | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Attendance at programming session | Whether couple attends all 4 group programming sessions | Within 1 month of baseline | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Parenting, Family Relations, Marriage, Relationships