Testing the Effectiveness of the iRelate Program on Marines: An Enhanced Program Evaluation

<p>Junior enlisted Marines are getting married at a faster rate than their civilian counterparts and nearly twice that of senior personnel (Gomulka, 2010; Cohen, Passel, Wang, & Livingston, 2011). With the high rate of marriage, these same junior Marines have a disproportionately high divorce rate. While the high rate of divorce is a significant issue, divorce in the Marine Corps population is complex as it affects the individual’s and family’s well-being, and the Marine’s unit level of readiness (Karney & Crown, 2007; United Stated Marine Corps, 2014). As a result of this high rate of divorce, a group of Navy chaplains created the Intimate Relationships Awareness, Training, and Enrichment (iRelate) program (Lloyd, Munoz, Tremblay, Foskett, Hallett, & Distelberg, 2015). This program was developed as an educational approach intended to prepare young Marines for success in relationships, with a focus on marriage preparation and enrichment. iRelate is a psychoeducational approach that integrates the Family Resilience Model, Life-Cycle Perspective, and the Human Ecological Model to conceptualize relationship education. The current study was designed to analyze the overall effectiveness of the iRelate program. The study uses a longitudinal design with four treatment conditions (treatment groups 1, 2, 3 and treatment as usual) to follow the Marine and their significant other as their relationship progresses through the three stages of iRelate, for a period of up to 36-months. Marine Corps bases in Arizona, California, and Hawaii will be used to recruit participants. The data that is collected from the study will be used to examine the overall effectiveness of iRelate over time, using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance method (Aim I). A second analysis using Dyadic Data Analysis and Actor Partner Interdependence Models will be employed to test the mechanism by which marital satisfaction effects suicide-related behavior over time (Aim II).</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Counseling and Family Sciences

Year

2017

Author dc:creator

• Lloyd, Griselda M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Distelberg, Brian J.
• Blow, Adrian
• Huenergardt, Douglas
• Montgomery, Susanne B.

• Family, Life Course, and Society
• Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• United States Marine Corps - Enlisted personnel; Marital Quality; Marital Therapy; Divorce - Therapy; Military Personnel - Therapy - United States;
• Intimate Relationships Awareness
• Training
• and Enrichment Program; iRelate Program; Family Resilience Model; Life-Cycle Perspective; Actor Partner Interdependence Models

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/443

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1440