The impact of Strong Families, Strong Communities on relationship functioning in low‐income African American and Hispanic individuals
Findings from a federally funded randomized control trial
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21320359 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sheara Williams Jenning (0000-0002-2939-9145, Graduate College of Social Work University of Houston Houston Texas USA, corresponding author), Luis R Torres (0000-0001-5998-7688, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Luis R Torres‐Hostos (School of Social Work The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg Texas USA), Randall A Rose (0000-0001-5309-4547, School of Social Work University of Maryland Baltimore Maryland USA), Roberta M Leal (Department of Clinical, Health and Applied Sciences University of Houston‐Clear Lake Clear Lake Texas USA) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1080-1096 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Family Process (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-7370 • E-ISSN: 1545-5300 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/famp.12758 |
| PMID | 35149988 |
| OpenAlex | W4211069042 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
Low‐income minorities face many complex barriers to building stable and healthy relationships. AVANCE Houston, a non‐profit community‐based organization in Houston, Texas, developed the Strong Families , Strong Communities (SFSC) program to address such barriers by providing interactive healthy marriage and relationship skills workshops to low‐income English‐ and Spanish‐speaking Hispanic and English‐speaking African American individuals. Using a randomized control trial (RCT) design with random assignment to the 7‐week treatment group ( n = 649) or a 12‐month wait‐list control group ( n = 600), we examined the impact of the program on four dimensions of relationship functioning: relationship satisfaction, connectedness, and quality; and conflict resolution, at post‐test and then 6 and 12 months later. Using a repeated measure multilevel model with a difference‐in‐difference impact estimate, we found that all four dimensions of relationship functioning improved with small effect sizes that were larger than those found in previous relationship education programs for low‐income individuals (Cohen's d 's of 0.18 for relationship satisfaction, 0.24 for connectedness, 0.19 for quality, and 0.20 for conflict resolution). Findings from this study provide evidence of program effectiveness on dimensions of relationship functioning for low‐income minorities, comparable to or better than those seen in other healthy marriage program RCTs. The findings of this impact evaluation are promising regarding the impact of programs like SFSC on dimensions of relationship functioning in low‐income Hispanic and African American participants
African american · Low income · Randomized controlled trial · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |