Empowering Families Project

NCT05359185 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 90ZB0025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 666
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This RCT will test the marginal benefit of adding economic-focused services to traditional relationship education (RE) interventions. 344 couples will be randomly assigned to the RE only or RE plus economic-services condition. All couples will be assessed at baseline, 6-weeks, 6-months, and 12-months. This project will examine whether couples in the RE plus condition have better relationship and economic outcomes than couples in the RE only condition.

Conditions

Couples; Relationship, Marital; Relational Problems

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• Change in Relationship satisfaction

  Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI-4).

  From baseline to 6-weeks, 6-months, 12-months

• Changes in Positive Communication

  Seven items, scored on four-point scale and averaged. Sample item: "My partner and I were good at working out our differences."

  From baseline to 6-weeks, 6-months, 12-months

• Changes in Negative Communication

  Nine items, scored on four-point scale and averaged. Sample item: "My partner was rude or mean to me when we disagree."

  From baseline to 6-weeks, 6-months, 12-months

• Changes in Income

  Single item: "How much would you say you personally as an individual earned in total from all work in the last month, before taxes and deductions?" Open numeric response

  From baseline to 6-months, 12-months

• Changes in Financial Strain

  Five items assess the degree of difficulty the household has had fulfilling financial obligations and purchasing necessary items. Items scored on a 4-point scale and averaged.

  From baseline to 6-months, 12-months

• Changes in Financial Capability

  Six items assess capability to manage household finances, (e.g., "In the last 2 months, have you been charged a late fee on a loan or bill?"). Items summed to form an index with range of 0-8 (two 3-point items, four 2-point items.

  From baseline to 6-months, 12-months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Changes in Support and Affection

  From baseline to 6-weeks, 6-months, 12-months

• Changes in Wealth

  From baseline to 6-months, 12-months

Study Arms (2)

Treatment-only

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the this group will receive core Relationship Education programming, which consists of six weekly 2.5-hour Family Wellness Workshops.

Behavioral: Family Wellness

Treatment-Plus

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this group will receive an enhanced model that includes the core RE programming, and adds economic-focused services which include two 2.5-hour workshops (one on financial planning and one on career coaching), as well as individual financial planning and career coaching services ongoing for up to one year.

Behavioral: Family Wellness; Behavioral: Career Coaching; Behavioral: Financial Planning

Interventions

Career Coaching BEHAVIORAL

Individualized career coaching and employment services.

Treatment-Plus

Financial Planning BEHAVIORAL

Individualized financial planning services.

Treatment-Plus

Family Wellness BEHAVIORAL

https://familywellness.com/

Treatment-Plus; Treatment-only

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• couples involved in a romantic relationship

You may not qualify if:

• current domestic violence or child maltreatment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Texas at Austin: lead
• Department of Health and Human Services: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The Parenting Center

Fort Worth, Texas, 76107, United States

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 27, 2022
• First Posted: May 3, 2022
• Study Start: May 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 29, 2025
• Study Completion: September 29, 2025
• Last Updated: February 10, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Locations

US (1)