TY - JOUR
T1 - Predicting program retention in a flexibly-delivered relationship education program for low-income, unmarried parents
AU - Bulling, Lisanne J.
AU - Baucom, Katherine J.W.
AU - Heyman, Richard E.
AU - Slep, Amy M.Smith
AU - Mitnick, Danielle M.
AU - Lorber, Michael F.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant from the Administration for Children and Families [90FE013104]. Special thanks to Demetra Panagiotopoulos and Doris F. Pu for data management assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2020/5/26
Y1 - 2020/5/26
N2 - Participation rates in couple relationship education (CRE) programs for low-income couples are typically low. We examined predictors of session attendance and early dropout (i.e., dropout after 1 session) among a sample of low-income, unmarried parents of a newborn (N = 467 couples) enrolled in an evidence-based CRE program. Predictors included demographics and socioeconomic status, as well as baseline indicators of relationship commitment, family and individual functioning, infant health, preventive health care utilization, and CRE coach perceptions of participant engagement and alliance in the first session of the program. Couples attended an average of 4.4 (SD = 2.5) of the 7 sessions, with nearly a quarter of couples dropping out after the first session. Attendance at fewer sessions was predicted by younger age. Early dropout was predicted by lower ratings of females’ engagement and both partners’ therapeutic alliance and, unexpectedly, by commitment. We discuss considerations for engaging low-income couples in CRE.
AB - Participation rates in couple relationship education (CRE) programs for low-income couples are typically low. We examined predictors of session attendance and early dropout (i.e., dropout after 1 session) among a sample of low-income, unmarried parents of a newborn (N = 467 couples) enrolled in an evidence-based CRE program. Predictors included demographics and socioeconomic status, as well as baseline indicators of relationship commitment, family and individual functioning, infant health, preventive health care utilization, and CRE coach perceptions of participant engagement and alliance in the first session of the program. Couples attended an average of 4.4 (SD = 2.5) of the 7 sessions, with nearly a quarter of couples dropping out after the first session. Attendance at fewer sessions was predicted by younger age. Early dropout was predicted by lower ratings of females’ engagement and both partners’ therapeutic alliance and, unexpectedly, by commitment. We discuss considerations for engaging low-income couples in CRE.
KW - Low-income couples
KW - couple CARE for parents
KW - couple relationship education
KW - dropout
KW - session attendance
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U2 - 10.1080/10522158.2019.1681337
DO - 10.1080/10522158.2019.1681337
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075602478
SN - 1052-2158
VL - 23
SP - 234
EP - 256
JO - Journal of Family Social Work
JF - Journal of Family Social Work
IS - 3
ER -