Program Impact and Processes of Change for Stepcouples and Stepparents in General Couple Relationship Education

While community education programs for stepfamilies can be useful, their availability remains limited. A broader effort to offer couple relationship education (CRE) has grown over the past few decades and accumulated substantial evidence of program impact in multiple domains of functioning for individuals, couples, and families. It is likely that a notable minority of participants in these programs are stepcouples and stepparents, yet their experiences have not been a focus. As such, it is not clear if the impact evidence represents their experiences. We conducted secondary analyses using a two‑study approach to examine both program impact and patterns of changes among ethnically and economically diverse samples of stepcouples and stepparents who participated in “general” CRE. Study 1 findings indicate program impact over a 1-year period for stepcouples when compared to a randomized control group in couple skills, couple relationship quality, and individual mental health. In Study 2, stepparents in general CRE reported significant improvements over 1 year in couple quality, parenting efficacy, and mental health. Residualized change models found evidence of concurrent rather than prospective associations.. Implications for future research and practice are presented.