Psychology

Dyadic latent profile analyses and multilevel modeling to examine differential response to couple relationship education

Document Type

Article

Abstract

There are mixed evaluations of couple relationship education indicating that these types of interventions may be more or less effective depending on the couple type and demographic differences. However, this ambiguity requires more investigation with advanced statistical analyses that use a person-centered approach such as mixture modeling. We tested this hypothesis with a sample of different-sex couples (N = 455 couples) who participated in a brief in-home couple intervention. We used dyadic latent profile analysis to determine possible relationship health typologies (RHTs) of presenting couples and multilevel models to examine differential intervention effectiveness between these RHTs. Results indicated there were 3 RHT: Partners Below Average with Wife Much Lower RHT (18%), Partners Below Average with Men Slightly Lower RHT (26%), and Partner Both Above Average RHT, (56%). RHTs did not differ by demographics. Below Average and Wife Lower RHTs responded the best to the brief couple intervention. In sum, we find that a brief intervention that targets the specific concerns of the couples may improve outcomes for multiple RHT.

Publication Title

Journal of Family Psychology

Publication Date

2020

Volume

34

Issue

7

First Page

879

Last Page

885

ISSN

08933200

DOI

10.1037/fam0000667

Keywords

constructive communication, health care utilization, relationship education, relationship satisfaction

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