Self-help interventions for parenting couples experiencing conflict or relationship distress: study protocol for a...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Family Studies
• Intervention Science

Background:

• Parental conflict and relationship distress negatively impact child adjustment and adult mental health.
• Couples often delay seeking professional help for relationship issues.
• Self-help interventions offer accessible options for couples experiencing distress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of the OurRelationship program (OR) compared to couple-focused bibliotherapy (BT) and a waitlist control (WL).
• To assess the impact of these interventions on reducing parental communication conflict.
• To evaluate the effect of interventions on child wellbeing.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 350 parenting couples with high parental conflict or relationship distress.
• Participants were randomized to OR, BT, or WL conditions.
• Data collected via online questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention (10 weeks), and 3- and 12-month follow-ups using dyadic multilevel models.

Main Results:

• Hypothesized that OR would outperform BT, and BT would outperform WL in reducing communication conflict.
• Hypothesized that both OR and BT would outperform WL in improving child wellbeing.
• Results will be analyzed using dyadic multilevel models to compare change trajectories.

Conclusions:

• The study evaluates the added benefit of OR over a low-cost bibliotherapy option.
• This is the first independent evaluation of the OR program outside the USA.
• Findings will inform the development and dissemination of effective couple interventions.