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The Role of the Facilitator in Couple Relationship Education
Author(s) -
Ketring Scott A.,
Bradford Angela B.,
Davis Stephanie Y.,
AdlerBaeder Francesca,
McGill Julianne,
Smith Thomas A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/jmft.12223
Subject(s) - facilitator , alliance , facilitation , psychology , relationship education , social psychology , developmental psychology , political science , neuroscience , law
While much of the Couple Relationship Education ( CRE ) research has focused on participant factors, unexpectedly little research has considered how characteristics of those providing the programming shape its efficacy. The current study draws upon a diverse sample of 225 couples who received CRE from community educators to examine how facilitation alliance is related to relationship outcomes for men and women and whether having a facilitator with similar demographic characteristics is related to the alliance. Results suggest that the facilitation alliance is related to some—though not all—postprogram outcomes and these effects were uniform across gender and relationship status (married vs. unmarried). Having a facilitator of the same gender was associated with a stronger alliance. Implications are discussed.