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Outcomes and Outcome Domains Examined in HMRE Evaluation Studies

Research BriefRelationship & Family FormationSep 15, 2020
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Healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs aim to promote healthy, stable relationships and marriages, thereby enhancing the quality and stability of participants’ lives.a HMRE programs also promote relationship stability as a way to improve economic security for families.1 Further, research demonstrates that the quality and stability of adults’ romantic relationships can translate into improved well-being for their children.2 As such, the Administration for Children and Families (the primary funder of HMRE programs) regards HMRE programs as a strategy to promote economic self-sufficiency and strengthen families.1

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This brief was created by the Marriage Strengthening Research & Dissemination Center, a partnership between Child Trends, the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, and Public Strategies.

HMRE programs aim to impact the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of individuals, couples, families, and even communities.3 These programs typically teach adult and youth participants skills that research suggests are important for developing and maintaining healthy relationships. Such skills include communicating effectively, managing conflict, building intimacy, and identifying signs that a relationship may be dangerous or unhealthy.b,4,5 To know whether these programs create the change they intend—on romantic relationships and, by extension, on family and child well-being—evaluation research assesses the impact of HMRE programs on measurable indicators across a range of relevant outcome domains.

This brief describes the types and prevalence of outcomes measured in evaluations of HMRE programs over the last decade at the individual, couple, family, and community levels. The brief ends with a discussion about the potential implications of these findings, as well as various considerations for evaluators and practitioners when selecting outcomes for HMRE evaluations.

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The authors would like to thank the Steering Committee of the Marriage Strengthening Research and Dissemination Center (MAST Center) and Galena Rhoades for their feedback on earlier drafts of this brief. The authors would also like to thank Ilana Huz, Samantha Ciaravino, Lisa Kim, and Heather Wasik for their research support at multiple stages of this project. Finally, the authors would like to thank Public Strategies for development of the practice tips.

Editor: Brent Franklin
Designer: Catherine Nichols

Sydney J. Briggs, M.P.A., is a Senior Research Analyst in the Reproductive Health and Family Formation research area at Child Trends. Ms. Briggs’ research interests center on applying an anti-oppression lens to intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention and intervention, access to comprehensive reproductive health care, and the housing crisis. At Child Trends, Ms. Briggs currently serves as the lead analyst for the MAST Center and studies innovations in school-based reproductive health care service delivery.

April Wilson, Ph.D., co-leads the MAST Center’s Program Implementation and Evaluation research area. Dr. Wilson is a deputy program area director and developmental researcher at Child Trends whose research focuses on identifying the precursors of stable and healthy family relationships. She serves as the principle investigator and task lead on a variety of projects related to healthy romantic, co-parenting, and parenting relationships, as well as projects designed to improve use of research and evaluation methods.

Mindy E. Scott, Ph.D., is the MAST Center’s Principal Investigator and co-leads the Program Implementation and Evaluation research area. She is a sociologist and family demographer at Child Trends whose primary
research interests relate to family formation, family strengthening, responsible fatherhood, and adolescent pregnancy prevention. Dr. Scott studies the design and implementation of federally and non-federally funded healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs through several other OPRE-funded projects focused on youth, parents in complex families, and fathers.

Deja Logan, B.A., is a Senior Research Assistant in the Reproductive Health and Family Formation research area. Ms. Logan’s research interests explore the effects of race and socioeconomic status on intimate relationships, family structure, and well-being. At Child Trends, Ms. Logan currently supports the MAST Center’s research and building capacity initiatives, in addition to studying trends in reproductive health care.

The Marriage Strengthening Research and Dissemination Center (MAST Center) conducts research on marriage and romantic relationships in the U.S. and healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs designed to strengthen these relationships. The MAST Center is made up of a team of national experts in marriage and relationship research and practice, led by Child Trends in partnership with Public Strategies and the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.

The MAST Center is supported by grant #90PR0012 from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The MAST Center is solely responsible for the contents of this brief, which do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Relationship & Family Formation