Educate and Empower: An Online Intervention to Improve College Women’s Knowledge and Confidence When Communicating in a Romantic Relationship

Abstract

Historically, and during the covid-19 pandemic, the vast majority of unpaid family care was provided by women with devastating outcomes including lost jobs, increased poverty, and mental health concerns (Almeida et al., 2020; Dang et al., 2020; Power, 2020). Unequal family work and unhealthy communication were associated with women’s relationship dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms (Bannon et al., 2020; Carlson et al., 2020; Woods et al., 2019). The PARTNERS video intervention was created to educate college women about family work distribution, communication in a romantic relationship, and the PARTNERS model of communication (a strategy for healthy communication based on existing literature and developed by Trovato and O’Brien for this intervention). An experiment was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the video intervention. Participants exposed to the intervention had the highest relationship communication self-efficacy. Those who participated in the intervention or read a partial script were the most knowledgeable about family work distribution, communication, and the PARTNERS model. The PARTNERS intervention has potential to educate women about family work distribution and couple communication and improve their confidence when communicating with a romantic partner. Ultimately, this intervention may increase relationship satisfaction, reduce depression, and equalize family work distribution for women.