Recruitment and Retention of Low-SES Ethnic Minority Couples in Intervention Research at the Transition to Parenthood.
Low-SES couples have limited resources to manage the chronic and acute stressors with which they are disproportionately faced. Although these couples are at greater risk for negative individual and relationship outcomes, evaluations of the impact of couple relationship education (CRE) in low-SES couples have been plagued by methodological problems, most notably challenges associated with recruitment and retention. We review the literature on challenges couples face associated with low-SES, as well as on recruitment, retention, and CRE in low-SES, ethnic minority populations. We illustrate some of these challenges in a case study of CRE for low-SES couples transitioning to parenthood. In this pilot study, 21 couples were recruited from a community health clinic and randomized to either an experimental treatment condition (EXP; N = 11) or a treatment-as-usual control condition (TAU; N = 10). This study sought to mitigate documented challenges with recruitment and retention: We leveraged community partnerships, attempted to build and maintain strong relationships with study participants, provided incentives for assessments as well as intervention meetings, and attempted to reduce potential barriers to enrollment and retention. Nonetheless, we had low rates of recruitment and retention. We integrate these findings and experiences with our review of previous work in this area. We make recommendations for future CRE research and practice that have potential implications for public policy in this area.
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
Katherine J W
KJW
Baucom
Graduate School of Education and Psychology, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA.
Xiao S
XS
Chen
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
Nicholas S
NS
Perry
Graduate School of Education and Psychology, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA.
Kaddy Y
KY
Revolorio
Department of Psychiatry, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA.
Astrid
A
Reina
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
Andrew
A
Christensen
D000328:Adult; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D018579:Patient Selection; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
Couple Relationship; Ethnic Minority; Prevention; Recruitment; Retention; Socioeconomic Status; minoría étnica; nivel socioeconómico; prevención; relación de pareja; retención; selección; 伴侣关系; 保留; 少数族裔; 干预; 招募; 社会经济地位