Web-Based Marriage Education for Foster, Kinship, and Adoptive Couples

描述(由申请人提供)：一半的婚姻以离婚告终，其他许多人经历了严重的压力时期。这对夫妇和孩子的影响是巨大的。这一领域的干预努力越来越多地侧重于婚姻教育；也就是教夫妇社交技能和调谐期望，以避免消极的沟通模式，因为随着时间的推移，这种模式往往会侵蚀关系的满意度。预防和加强关系计划，或称PREP，是这一领域基于经验的领先计划。该计划还被调整为适用于特殊人群，对他们来说，婚姻预期与环境和/或价值观密切相关。研究人员一致认为，培训必须分别针对基于宗教价值观、社会经济地位和军事生活的群体。另一个庞大而独特的群体是养父母、亲属关系和养父母。这些夫妇的婚姻承受着非同寻常的压力：试图管理非常不安的孩子行为，处理照顾系统，与亲生父母有关，以及对不同类型家庭的看法。婚姻的稳定对孩子的安置也是至关重要的。我们建议开发一个基于网络的交互式PREP版本，专门针对这一群体的需求和挑战。在第一阶段，我们将开发培训的第一堂课，内容是识别人际关系中的沟通模式。除多媒体培训外，该单元还将包括一个互动评估部分和一个互动辅导日记。该单元将在全国范围内对寄养、亲属关系和领养夫妇的样本进行测试，以衡量关系中的沟通模式、内容知识和关系信心。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Half of all marriages end in divorce and many others suffer periods of acute stress. The impact on couples and children is substantial. Intervention efforts in this area are increasingly focusing on marital education; that is, teaching couples social-communication skills and attuning expectations to avoid the negative communication patterns that tend to erode satisfaction in the relationship over time. Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program, or PREP, is a leading empirically-based program in this area. The program has also been adapted for use with special populations for whom marriage expectations are closely linked to circumstances and/or values. Researchers agree that training must separately address groups based on, for example, religious values, socioeconomic status, and military life. Another large and unique group is foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. These couples are subjected to extraordinary stressors on their marriage: trying to manage very disturbed child behavior, dealing with the care system, relating to birth parents, and perceptions of being a different type of family. The stability of the marriage is also critical to maintaining the placement of the child. We propose developing an interactive Web-based version of PREP that specifically addresses the needs and challenges of this population. In Phase I we will develop the first lecture of the training on recognizing communication patterns in relationships. In addition to the multimedia training, the module will include an interactive assessment component and an interactive coaching journal. The unit will be tested with a national sample of foster, kinship, and adoptive couples on measures of patterns of communication in relationships, content knowledge, and relationship confidence.