
Introduction
Ensuring safety in healthy relationship programs is important, but there is a lack of research or practice consensus regarding how program participation can affect intimate partner violence (IPV) and teen dating violence experiences (TDV). This brief reviews research around the hypothetical and observed relationship between healthy relationship program participation and IPV/TDV.
This paper summarizes empirical and theoretical work across four areas:
1. Direct influences of healthy relationship programs on IPV/TDV
2. Indirect influences of healthy relationship program on IPV and TDV (e.g., improved communication skills, improved conflict resolution skills, etc)
3. How population characteristics (sex, race, etc.) moderate healthy relationship program effects on IPV and TDV
4. How previous domestic violence experiences moderate healthy relationship program effects on IPV and TDV
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review research describing the observed and hypothesized associations between healthy marriage programs and IPV/TDV outcomes.
Key Findings and Highlights
• Healthy relationship programs could have both negative or positive effects on IPV and TDV experiences.
• Programs may affect IPV/TDV through affecting related outcomes, such as improving relationship knowledge, communication skills, and conflict-resolution abilities.
• Program participant characteristics may enhance, reduce, or reverse program effects on IPV/TDV and related experiences or behaviors. Men, married adults, more educated adults, and adults with a more distressed relationship may experience more beneficial program effects on IPV, while adults who are depressed may not benefit from programming, and improvements in positive communication may result in negative relationship outcomes for women.
• Effects of healthy relationship programs on TDV outcomes for youth program participants may vary by their personal characteristics, but empirical findings are limited and inconsistent.
• For some adult participants experiencing situational couple violence, programs could help to decrease IPV, but for adult participants experiencing coercive controlling violence, program participation could lead to increased IPV.
Methods
We reviewed existing empirical and theoretical research evidence to examine how healthy relationship programs can influence IPV and TDV. There were three areas of focus:
• Theories and empirically tested findings on pathways to change in healthy relationship programs
• Theories and empirically tested findings on program participants’ characteristics that moderate the effect of healthy relationship program activities on outcomes
• Theories and empirically tested findings on the interaction between current and prior IPV and TDV experiences and pathways to healthy relationship programs.
Citation
Clinton-Sherrod, M., McKay, T., Kan, M., Cutbush, S., Grove, L. & Mbilinyi, L., (2016). Healthy Relationship Program Influences: Evidence for Understanding How Healthy Relationship Programs Influence Intimate Partner Violence, OPRE Report #2016-69, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
Domestic violence program: Domestic violence programs are community-based service organizations that provide a wide range of direct services for people experiencing domestic violence.
Healthy relationship program: A healthy relationship program implements healthy marriage and relationship education and related activities.
Intimate partner violence: Physical, sexual, or psychological harm, or reproductive coercion by a spouse, partner, or former partner.
Moderators: demographic or other personal characteristics which may strengthen, attenuate, or reverse the effects of a program
Teen dating violence: Physical, sexual, or psychological harm, reproductive coercion, or similar abuses when they occur in youth dating experiences, typically among middle and high school aged youth.