Recent Study Reviews - Page 9 - The Relationship Educator

Relationship Education Can Reduce the Effects of Anger/Stress on Marital Conflict

by Alan J. Hawkins

The Bottom-line First: Relationship education program designers have long thought that it was important to help couples better understand and recognize their daily stresses and moods and then give them tools to prevent stresses and negative moods from igniting conflicts or turning small-disagreement mole hills into relationship-harming mountains. An important, recent study with lower income couples now documents that participation in RE can reduce the tendency for stresses and negative moods to turn disagreements into severe conflicts. Continue reading “Relationship Education Can Reduce the Effects of Anger/Stress on Marital Conflict”

“Survey Says”… The Effectiveness of Program Satisfaction and Learning Questionnaires at Predicting Later Marital Quality

by Jennifer Griffith

The Bottom-line First: If program administrators don’t have the resources to do a rigorous, long-term evaluation of the impact of their relationship education programs, what other options do they have to document program effectiveness? As it turns out, recent research suggests that simple post-program surveys of participants’ reports of learning and intent to change are pretty good predictors of relationship outcomes down the road. Continue reading ““Survey Says”… The Effectiveness of Program Satisfaction and Learning Questionnaires at Predicting Later Marital Quality”

Can Relationship Checkups Work?

By Jennifer Griffith

The Bottom-line First: Checkups are a good way to identify health issues before they become bigger problems. Could relationship checkups work the same way as a dental checkup? A recent study found that brief relationship checkups with feedback to couples can strengthen their relationships, even when the feedback is given impersonally by a computer-generated report. Read more. Continue reading “Can Relationship Checkups Work?”

The Rewards of Compassionate Acts

by Jennifer Griffith

The Bottom-line First: Is compassion really its own reward? In this study, the authors found that small, daily acts of compassion for your spouse improve both your spouse’s well-being and your own. Although the effect is greatest when spouses mutually recognize these selfless acts, even when a spouse does not notice an act it still improves the well-being of the giver. Continue reading “The Rewards of Compassionate Acts”