Clinical trial NCT02112058: The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation
Official title: The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Marital Relationships
Family Relations
Low-Income Population
Child Behavior
Adolescent Behavior
Lead sponsor: MDRC
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Abt Associates
name: Child Trends
name: Optimal Solutions Group
name: Public Strategies
First posted: 2014-04-11
Enrollment: 6298
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL

Brief summary: The Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation was launched in 2003 to test the effectiveness of a skills-based relationship education program designed to help low- and modest-income married couples strengthen their relationships and to support more stable and more nurturing home environments and more positive outcomes for parents and their children. The evaluation was led by MDRC with Abt Associates and other partners, and it was sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SHM was a voluntary, year long, marriage education program for lower-income, married couples who had children or were expecting a child. The program provided group workshops based on structured curricula; supplemental activities to build on workshop themes; and family support services to address participation barriers, connect families with other services, and reinforce curricular themes. The study's random assignment design compared outcomes for families who were offered SHM's services with outcomes for a similar group of families who were not but could access other services in the community.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* To be eligible for the study, couples were supposed to be low income, married, at least 18 years old, and either expecting a child or parents of a child under age 18 who was living in their home -- though couples were not required to provide any documentation verifying that they met these eligibility criteria.
* They also had to understand one of the languages in which SHM services were offered (English or, in some locations, Spanish).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Indication of domestic violence in the relationship

Primary outcomes:
measure: Percent Married at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Couples' average report of relationship happiness at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Either spouse reported marriage in trouble at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Reports of warmth and support at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Reports of positive communication skills at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Reports of negative behavior and emotions at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Neither spouse reported infidelity at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Reports of psychological abuse at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Reports of any physical assault at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Individual psychological distress at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Men's and women's reports of cooperative coparenting at 12 Months
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Paternal and maternal supportiveness of child
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Paternal and maternal responsiveness to child
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Paternal and maternal hostility toward child
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Paternal and maternal harsh discipline
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Child self-regulation
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Child internalizing behavior problems
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Child externalizing behavior problems
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Child cognitive and academic performance
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Percent Married at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Couples' average report of relationship happiness at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Either spouse reported marriage in trouble at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Reports of warmth and support at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Reports of positive communication skills at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Reports of negative behavior and emotions at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Neither spouse reported infidelity at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Reports of psychological abuse at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Reports of any physical assault at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Individual psychological distress at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
measure: Men's and women's reports of cooperative coparenting at 30 Months
timeFrame: 30 months
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Wichita
country: United States
facility: Catholic Charities
state: Kansas
city: Bronx
country: United States
facility: University Behavioral Associates
state: New York
city: New York
country: United States
facility: MDRC
state: New York
city: Oklahoma City
country: United States
facility: Public Strategies, Inc
state: Oklahoma
city: Reading
country: United States
facility: Community Prevention Partnership of Berks County
state: Pennsylvania
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Texas Department of Health and Human Services
state: Texas
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: Becoming Parents Program, Inc
state: Washington
city: Shoreline
country: United States
facility: Center for Human Services
state: Washington
Study officials:
affiliation: MDRC
name: JoAnn Hsueh, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Supporting Healthy Marriage Toolkit: Resources for Program Operators from the Supporting Healthy Marriage Demonstration and Evaluation. 2011. MDRC.
citation: Fein, David J. (2009). Spending Time Together: Time Use Estimates for Economically Disadvantaged and Nondisadvantaged Married Couples in the United States. Working Paper.
citation: Knox, Virginia and David J. Fein (2008). Designing a Marriage Education Demonstration and Evaluation for Low-Income Married Couples. Working Paper.
citation: Fein, David J. (2004). Married and Poor: Basic Characteristics of Economically Disadvantaged Couples in the U.S. Working Paper.
citation: Lundquist, Erika, JoAnn Hsueh, Amy E. Lowenstein, Kristen Faucetta, Daniel Gubits, Charles Michalopoulos, and Virginia Knox (2014). A Family-Strengthening Program for Low-Income Families: Final Impacts from the Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation. OPRE Report 2014-09A. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
citation: Lowenstein, Amy E., Noemi Altman, Patricia M. Chou, Kristen Faucetta, Adam Greeney, Daniel Gubits, Jorgen Harris, JoAnn Hsueh, Erika Lundquist, Charles Michalopoulos, and Vinh 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.
citation: Gubits, Daniel, Amy E. Lowenstein, Jorgen Harris, and JoAnn Hsueh (2014). Do the Effects of a Relationship Education Program Vary for Different Types of Couples? Exploratory Subgroup Analysis in the Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation. OPRE Report 2014-22. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
citation: Lloyd, Chrishana M., Ashley Weech, Jennifer Miller Gaubert (2014). Perspectives of Low-Income African-American and Latino Couples on Relationship Education. Working Paper.
citation: Hsueh, JoAnn, Desiree Principe Alderson, Erika Lundquist, Charles Michalopoulos, Daniel Gubits, David Fein, and Virginia Knox (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.
citation: Hsueh, JoAnn, Desiree Principe Alderson, Erika Lundquist, Charles Michalopoulos, Daniel Gubits, and David Fein (2012). The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation: Early Impacts on Low-Income Families, Technical Supplement. OPRE Report 2012-27. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
citation: Miller Gaubert, Jennifer, Daniel Gubits, Desiree Principe Alderson, and Virginia Knox (2012). The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation: Final Implementation Findings. OPRE Report 2012-12. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
citation: Miller Gaubert, Jennifer, Virginia Knox, Desiree Principe Alderson, Christopher Dalton, Kate Fletcher, and Meghan McCormick. Early Lessons from the Implementation of a Relationship and Marriage Skills Program for Low-Income Married Couples. 2010. MDRC.