Strong Couples Project: Disseminating Evidence-based Relationship Education

Strong Couples Project: ePREP Nationwide Dissemination

The current research is designed to implement and evaluate the ePREP relationship intervention with couples via the Cooperative Extension system.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Relational Problems; Relationships, Marital
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: ePREP

Detailed Description

The objective of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of an online intervention (ePREP) for help-seeking couples designed to promote individual and couple well-being. Newly developed online intervention programs for distressed couples have shown to be efficacious, but their overall reach to the general population remains limited. The current research is designed to implement and evaluate the ePREP relationship intervention with couples throughout the nation in a manner that allows for scalable, sustainable program delivery.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 500
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Urbana, Illinois, United States, 61820
      • University of Illinois Extension
      • Contact: Allen W. Barton; Phone Number: 217-244-2009; Email: awbarton@illinois.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 118 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Resident of Illinois
• Married, engaged, or living with their partner for at least 6 months
• Both partners willing to participate in online relationship-focused programming

Exclusion Criteria:

• One or both partners reports sever forms of intimate partner violence occurring in the relationship

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ePREP condition; The ePREP program is the online version of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program. It consists of 6 self-directed online sessions and accompanying homework and brief coach calls.	Behavioral: ePREP; 6-session online psychoeducational program with supporting coach calls

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in relationship satisfaction	Couple satisfaction index	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in relationship instability	3 item Relationship Instability measure (from Doss et al., 2020, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in partner support	5 item Partner Support measure (from Doss et al., 2020, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in communication conflict	4 item communication conflict measure (from Doss et al., 2020, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in relationship confidence	4 item relationship confidence measure (from Stanley et al., 1994)	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in intervention-targeted behavior	PREP 3 keys and Couple Communal Identity (new measures created for this study)	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in partner aggression	7 item partner aggression (from Doss et al., 2020, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in psychological distress	Kessler 6 item psychological distress	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in anger	NIH PROMIS 5 item anger measure	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in perceived stress	Cohen's 10 item perceived stress measure	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in general health	Short Form-36 4 item general health perceptions	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in insomnia	7 item insomnia severity index	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in problematic alcohol use	Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) 7 item problematic alcohol use	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline
Change in exercise	1 item exercise (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2016 adaptation)	Baseline, Within one week of program completion (~2 months post-baseline), and 6-month follow-up from baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): October 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): September 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Anticipated): September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 18, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 24, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 24, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2022
• Last Verified: October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 21550

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No