The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Marital Relationships, Family Relations, Low-Income Population, Child Behavior, Adolescent Behavior

In brief

The Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation was launched in 2003 to test the effectiveness of a skills-based relationship education program designed to help low- and modest-income married couples strengthen their relationships and to support more stable and more nurturing home environments and more positive outcomes for parents and their children. The evaluation was led by MDRC with Abt Associates and other partners, and it was sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SHM was a voluntary, year long, marriage education program for lower-income, married couples who had children or were expecting a child. The program provided group workshops based on structured curricula; supplemental activities to build on workshop themes; and family support services to address participation barriers, connect families with other services, and reinforce curricular themes. The study's random assignment design compared outcomes for families who were offered SHM's services with outcomes for a similar group of families who were not but could access other services in the community.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02112058

Run by

MDRC

People needed

6298

Starts

2007-02-01

Expected to finish

2012-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2014-04-11

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• To be eligible for the study, couples were supposed to be low income, married, at least 18 years old, and either expecting a child or parents of a child under age 18 who was living in their home -- though couples were not required to provide any documentation verifying that they met these eligibility criteria.
• They also had to understand one of the languages in which SHM services were offered (English or, in some locations, Spanish).

You may not qualify if…

• Indication of domestic violence in the relationship

Where it is running

• Catholic Charities — Wichita, Kansas, United States
• MDRC — New York, New York, United States
• University Behavioral Associates — The Bronx, New York, United States
• Public Strategies, Inc — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
• Community Prevention Partnership of Berks County — Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
• Texas Department of Health and Human Services — Houston, Texas, United States
• Becoming Parents Program, Inc — Seattle, Washington, United States
• Center for Human Services — Shoreline, Washington, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.