Does Social and Economic Disadvantage Moderate the Effects of Relationship Education on Unwed Couples? An Analysis of Data from the 15-Month Building Strong Families Evaluation

Building Strong Families programs provide relationship education and other support services to unmarried couples with young children. This study used data from the 15-month Building Strong Families evaluation to test the hypothesis that the degree of social and economic disadvantage moderates the effects of program participation. To test this hypothesis, the author constructed a disadvantage index based on 11 known social and economic correlates of poor relationship quality and instability. Disadvantage and treatment did not interact significantly in predicting relationship stability but did interact significantly in predicting relationship quality among couples that stayed together. The negative association between disadvantage and relationship quality was weaker in the treatment group than in the control group.