MARRIAGE EDUCATION AND RISK REDUCTION FOR ARMY FAMILIES
Scott M Stanley, Research Professor
University Of Denver, Office Of Sponsored Programs, Denver, Co 80208
Grant 5R01HD048780-05 from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development
Abstract: Marital distress and divorce is of great concern in the U.S., as the divorce rate for first marriages is around 40 to 45%, and marital problems are a risk factor for a variety of child and adult problems. To combat disturbing trends of marital dissolution and distress, as well as the associated problems and costs, there is increasing government support for the wide spread implementation of marriage education. Although this movement is supported by existing empirical research, we still need to know much about marital processes over time and the effects of marriage education, particularly across diverse samples and outcomes. We propose to implement a community level, controlled, longitudinal, randomized investigation of an ongoing marriage education program for Army couples delivered by Army chaplains. The intervention is an Army adaptation of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) for young married Army couples. This adaptation is entitled Building Strong and Ready Families (BSRF). BSRF is designed to target empirically identified risk and protective factors for marital conflict and distress, which are also strongly associated with a range of individual and family functioning problems. We seek to test the impact of BSRF on a range of relationship risk and protective factors, and the effects of intervening with these factors on a wide range of outcomes which have not been studied in the marriage education literature, including depression, substance abuse, parenting, and child behavior outcomes. We will also evaluate a uniquely wide range of important, yet understudied, relationship constructs. We also have access to a uniquely diverse population, one not typically reached by traditional mental health services, due to the demographic make up of the Army and the use of Army chaplains as service providers (hence, a less stigmatizing resource for prevention and counseling for many people who will not seek services from a mental health professional). Our longitudinal design will allow tests of bi-directional effects of variables such as mental health and relationship health over time, enabling us to test and refine our theoretical model of relationship risk and protective factors. Thus, the proposed research investigates underlying factors of healthy marriage, processes of marital distress and dissolution, bidirectional effects of marital conflict and individual and family functioning, and the immediate and long term effects of marital education
Keywords: 0-11 years old; 21+ years old; Active Follow-up; Adult; Affect; American; Armed Forces Personnel; Attention; Child; Child Abuse; Child Abuse and Neglect; Child Behavior; Child Youth; Childhood Abuse; Childhood maltreatment; Children (0-21); Clergy; Communication; Communities; Conflict; Conflict (Psychology); Control Groups; Counseling; Couples; Data; Development; Dimensions; Distress; Divorce; Domestic Violence; Education; Educational aspects; Effectiveness; Effects, Longterm; Emotional Depression; Empirical Research; Ethnic Origin; Ethnicity; Ethnicity aspects; Evaluation; Exposure to; Family; Family Relations; Family Relationship; Government; Health; Health Care Professional; Health Professional; Health profession; Healthcare professional; Healthcare worker; Heterogeneity, Population; Human, Adult; Human, Child; Individual; Intervention; Intervention Strategies; Investigation; Knowledge; Link; Literature; Long-Term Effects; Low income; Marital Therapy; Marriage; Marriage Therapy; Measures; Medical center; Mental Health; Mental Health Services; Mental Hygiene; Mental Hygiene Services; Methods; Military; Military Personnel; Models, Theoretic; Movement; Occupational; Outcome; PROV; Parenting; Parenting behavior; Parents; Participant; Patient Self-Report; Physical aggression; Population; Population Heterogeneity; Prevention; Prevention Research; Prevention program; Preventive; Process; Programs (PT); Programs [Publication Type]; Provider; Psychological Health; Race; Racial Group; Randomized; Religion and Spirituality; Reporting; Research; Research Design; Research Resources; Resources; Risk; Risk Factors; Risk Reduction; Sampling; Self-Report; Services; Source; Staging; Stocks, Racial; Study Type; Substance abuse problem; Suicide attempt; Symptoms of depression; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Testing; Theoretical model; Time; Training; Universities; Work; abuse of substances; adult human (21+); base; body movement; child depression; child maltreatment; children; combat; cost; depression; depressive; depressive symptoms; design; designing; diverse populations; education evaluation; efficacy trial; follow-up; heterogeneous population; improved; indexing; intervention effect; intervention program; interventional strategy; longitudinal design; marriage counseling; non fatal attempt; prevent; preventing; prevention evaluation; programs; psychologic; psychological; racial and ethnic; racial/ethnic; randomisation; randomization; randomly assigned; religious; response; satisfaction; skills; social; stressor; study design; substance abuse; suicidal attempt; trend; youngster
Project start date: 2006-05-01
Project end date: 2011-02-28
Budget start date: 1-MAR-2010
Budget end date: 28-FEB-2011
5R01HD048780-05 (2010): $565440
Sponsored Links Excellgen http://Excellgen.com
Marriage Education And Risk Reduction For Army Families
Scott M Stanley
Psychologyuniversity Of Denver
Grant 5R01HD048780-04 from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development IRG: CLHP
Abstract: Marital distress and divorce is of great concern in the U.S., as the divorce rate for first marriages is around 40 to 45%, and marital problems are a risk factor for a variety of child and adult problems. To combat disturbing trends of marital dissolution and distress, as well as the associated problems and costs, there is increasing government support for the wide spread implementation of marriage education. Although this movement is supported by existing empirical research, we still need to know much about marital processes over time and the effects of marriage education, particularly across diverse samples and outcomes. We propose to implement a community level, controlled, longitudinal, randomized investigation of an ongoing marriage education program for Army couples delivered by Army chaplains. The intervention is an Army adaptation of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) for young married Army couples. This adaptation is entitled Building Strong and Ready Families (BSRF). BSRF is designed to target empirically identified risk and protective factors for marital conflict and distress, which are also strongly associated with a range of individual and family functioning problems. We seek to test the impact of BSRF on a range of relationship risk and protective factors, and the effects of intervening with these factors on a wide range of outcomes which have not been studied in the marriage education literature, including depression, substance abuse, parenting, and child behavior outcomes. We will also evaluate a uniquely wide range of important, yet understudied, relationship constructs. We also have access to a uniquely diverse population, one not typically reached by traditional mental health services, due to the demographic make up of the Army and the use of Army chaplains as service providers (hence, a less stigmatizing resource for prevention and counseling for many people who will not seek services from a mental health professional). Our longitudinal design will allow tests of bi-directional effects of variables such as mental health and relationship health over time, enabling us to test and refine our theoretical model of relationship risk and protective factors. Thus, the proposed research investigates underlying factors of healthy marriage, processes of marital distress and dissolution, bidirectional effects of marital conflict and individual and family functioning, and the immediate and long term effects of marital education
Keywords: education, family, marriage /marital status, reduction aggression, attention, base, behavior, bias, birth, child abuse, child behavior, child rearing, children, communication, community, conflict, counseling, culture, depression, domestic violence, education evaluation /planning, emotion, experimental design, health, indexing, low socioeconomic status, mental health, mental health service, model, parent, prevention, satisfaction, stressor, substance abuse related disorder, suicide, therapy, training, university clinical research
Project start date: 2006-05-01
Project end date: 2011-02-28
5R01HD048780-02 (2007): $576518
Grants awarded to Scott M Stanley
The Role Of Cohabitation In Marriage And Union Formation
Scott M Stanley
University Of Denver Office Of Sponsored Programs Denver, Co 80208
Grant 5R01HD047564-02 from National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development IRG: PDRP
Abstract: The increase in cohabitation is one of the most significant shifts in family demographics of the past century (Casper and Bianchi, 2001; Manning and Smock, 2002; Smock, 2000). The significance of this increase is that, contrary to the expectations of many, cohabitation is associated with increased risk for marital distress and divorce (e.g., Kamp Dush, Cohan, and Amato, 2003; Stanley, Whitton, and Markman, 2004)-the so called "cohabitation effect." Current speculation for the cohabitation effect suggests theories related to selection (i.e., people who choose to cohabit have pre-existing sociodemographic risks for poor outcomes) and experience (i.e., something about cohabitation itself makes poor outcomes more likely). To date, methodological limitations of previous studies (e.g., lack of theory, retrospective accounts, weak measurement, small samples, infrequent follow-ups, and data from only one partner) have precluded an understanding of just what the experience of cohabitation is and how it is linked to higher risk factors for divorce. Without understanding mechanisms of risk, the most effective modes of lowering such risks cannot be developed. This project is designed to advance understandings of cohabitation effect by examining couple development using the overarching framework of commitment theory (e.g., Stanley and Markman, 1992). The proposed project will be the first comprehensive longitudinal study focused on cohabitation and it will begin at an earlier stage of couple development than any other study on cohabitation. Specifically, the proposed study aims to (a) Examine the roles of selection and experience in explaining the cohabitation effect by comprehensively measuring both in a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of dating and cohabiting individuals (N = 1200), (b) Test hypotheses framed in commitment theory that can explain why the experience of cohabitation is associated with poor relationship outcomes for some couples, (c) Use data from a sub-sample that includes both partners in couples to examine how discrepancies in commitment relate to the cohabitation effect, (d) Expand the foundation of knowledge upon which interventions designed to lower risks and raise protective factors for dating and cohabiting couples can be built. Random digit dialing techniques will be used to identify the sample and participants will complete questionnaires by mail every four months.
Keywords: behavior prediction, divorce /separation, dyadic interaction, household, marriage /marital status, psychological model, behavior therapy, decision making, geographic difference, interpersonal relations, longitudinal human study, method development, psychoanalysis, behavioral /social science research tag, clinical research, human subject, interview, questionnaire, telecommunication
Project start date: 2006-09-30
Project end date: 2011-08-31
5R01HD047564-02 (2007): $450863
1R01HD047564-01A2 (2006): $459656
5R01HD047564-05 (2010): $510360
5R01HD047564-04 (2009): $520746
5R01HD047564-03 (2008): $521486
Marriage Education And Risk Reduction For Army Families
Scott M Stanley
University Of Denver Office Of Sponsored Programs Denver, Co 80208
Grant 1R01HD048780-01A1 from National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development IRG: CLHP
Abstract: Marital distress and divorce is of great concern in the U.S., as the divorce rate for first marriages is around 40 to 45%, and marital problems are a risk factor for a variety of child and adult problems. To combat disturbing trends of marital dissolution and distress, as well as the associated problems and costs, there is increasing government support for the wide spread implementation of marriage education. Although this movement is supported by existing empirical research, we still need to know much about marital processes over time and the effects of marriage education, particularly across diverse samples and outcomes. We propose to implement a community level, controlled, longitudinal, randomized investigation of an ongoing marriage education program for Army couples delivered by Army chaplains. The intervention is an Army adaptation of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) for young married Army couples. This adaptation is entitled Building Strong and Ready Families (BSRF). BSRF is designed to target empirically identified risk and protective factors for marital conflict and distress, which are also strongly associated with a range of individual and family functioning problems. We seek to test the impact of BSRF on a range of relationship risk and protective factors, and the effects of intervening with these factors on a wide range of outcomes which have not been studied in the marriage education literature, including depression, substance abuse, parenting, and child behavior outcomes. We will also evaluate a uniquely wide range of important, yet understudied, relationship constructs. We also have access to a uniquely diverse population, one not typically reached by traditional mental health services, due to the demographic make up of the Army and the use of Army chaplains as service providers (hence, a less stigmatizing resource for prevention and counseling for many people who will not seek services from a mental health professional). Our longitudinal design will allow tests of bi-directional effects of variables such as mental health and relationship health over time, enabling us to test and refine our theoretical model of relationship risk and protective factors. Thus, the proposed research investigates underlying factors of healthy marriage, processes of marital distress and dissolution, bidirectional effects of marital conflict and individual and family functioning, and the immediate and long term effects of marital education.
Keywords: dyadic interaction, family structure /dynamics, human therapy evaluation, marriage /marital status, marriage counseling, mental health education, military personnel, child rearing, conflict, divorce /separation, interpersonal relations, longitudinal human study, psychological stressor, religion, substance abuse related behavior, behavioral /social science research tag, clinical research, health services research tag, human subject, questionnaire
Project start date: 2006-05-01
Project end date: 2011-02-28
1R01HD048780-01A1 (2006): $565865