Howard Markman

University of Denver · Department of Psychology

Objective: Relationship education programs have proven effective in promoting relationship quality and preventing divorce among married couples. However, according to theories of Environmental Sensitivity, people differ for genetic reasons in their sensitivity to environmental influences with some more affected by both negative and positive experi...

This article systematically reviewed 34 rigorous evaluation studies of couple relationship education (CRE) programs from 2010 to 2019 that met the criteria for Level 1 well‐established interventions. Significant advances include reaching more diverse and disadvantaged target populations with positive intervention effects on a wider range of outcome...

A large body of existing research on African American relationships perpetuates a deficit model that assumes Eurocentric norms and emphasizes between-group differences (e.g., cross-racial comparisons with the majority group-European Americans). The current study examined within-group variability and the influence of culturally unique factors, Afroc...

The novel coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has profoundly impacted people’s lives, resulting in economic turmoil, death and suffering, and drastic changes to everyday life. The adjustment and strain of such challenges can spill over into couples’ relationship processes, including how partners spend time together, talk to one another, and man...

When service members manifest symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intimate partners may engage in behaviors to accommodate their partners’ experiences (e.g., helping service members avoid situations that could make them uncomfortable, not expressing own thoughts and feelings to minimize PTSD‐related conflict), which may inadvertently...

Monitoring alternative partners may be associated with engaging in behaviors that undermine relationship fidelity and/or stability. For example, paying attention to romantic alternatives has been shown to be associated with lower relationship quality. Studies have investigated the association between alternative monitoring and relationship outcomes...

Pornography viewing has been cross-sectionally and longitudinally linked to poorer romantic relationship quality. However, only a few studies have looked at (1) the associations of changes in pornography viewing over time with relationship characteristics, (2) differential impacts of watching alone and watching with one's partner, and (3) how gende...

In general, a sense of understanding and connection is an important aspect of marital relationships. In the context of military couples in which a service member may have symptoms of PTSD, spouses' understanding of the nature and causes of service member PTSD symptoms may be protective for both partners' marital satisfaction. However, partners may...

The current study evaluates the effects of having a baby on relationship quality and stability, contrasting married and unmarried cohabiting parents (N = 179; 38% unmarried cohabiting). Participants provided several waves of data, including time points before, during, and after pregnancy. Results indicated that cohabiting parents broke up at a sign...

The pandemic caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus (Corona virus) and the associated illness, COVID‐19, has caused a level of world‐wide upheaval unlike any most people now living have seen in their lifetimes. This crisis affects people in their most important, committed, and intimate relationships. Although this crisis has damaged the health and wellbein...

“Defining the relationship” (DTR) conversations are a topic of interest among lay people, yet have been the focus of little empirical research, leaving a gap in the psychological literature on romantic relationship development. This article presents descriptive data from two studies about the characteristics and correlates of DTR talks in adolescen...

Relationship education is widely used to help people develop and sustain healthy romantic relationships. We first provide a review on the current state of evidence and key issues in the field, laying a foundation for suggesting specific best practices in relationship education. We focus on services provided to couples but also address the burgeonin...

Relationship interventions typically focus on reducing destructive communication patterns between partners. However, a dearth of research exists regarding communication dynamics within female same-gender (FSG) couples. The current study sought to expand basic science on communication dynamics within FSG couples with the overarching goal of informin...

To minimize potential distractions for deployed military service members (SMs), some nondeployed romantic partners have reported engaging in protective buffering, or intentionally withholding information or concerns to protect their deployed partner. This study assessed the associations of protective buffering and psychological distress and marital...

To shield a romantic partner from potential distress due to stressors occurring during deployment, service members (SMs) may engage in protective buffering, or withholding information or concerns from a romantic partner. This study utilized data from 54 couples collected before, during, and after a military deployment to assess whether SMs engaged...

Couple therapy has been shown to be a meaningful way to improve couples' relationships. However, less information is known about couples' functioning prior to entering treatment in community settings, as well as how their relationship functioning changes from initiating therapy onward. This study examined 87 couples who began community-based couple...

This study examined characteristics of individuals that are associated with being in asymmetrically committed relationships (ACRs), defined as romantic relationships in which there was a substantial difference in the commitment levels of the partners. These ACRs were studied in a national sample of unmarried, opposite-sex romantic relationships (N...

Despite a growing number of female same-gender (FSG) relationships, couples-based research and interventions have focused primarily on mixed-gender couples. Consequently, research has applied a heteronormative lens to understanding some relationship factors, including sexuality. The current study sought to provide descriptive data regarding frequen...

This study examined the within‐family and between‐family associations between fathers’ military‐related PTSD symptoms and parent ratings of children's behavioral and emotional problems. The sample included married couples ( N = 419) with children composed of a civilian wife and an active‐duty husband serving in the U.S. Army. Results indicate that...

Long-distance communication has been frequently identified as essential to military couples trying to maintain their relationship during a deployment. Little quantitative research, however, has assessed the types of topics discussed during such communication and how those topics relate to overall relationship satisfaction. The current study draws o...

Using data from 570 male service members and their wives, the current study investigated over-time associations between male service members’ self-report of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and marital functioning (marital satisfaction, positive bonding, conflict behavior) as perceived by both spouses. Analyses spanned 5 time points ov...

Although there is a large body of research addressing predictors of relationship infidelity, no study to our knowledge has specifically addressed infidelity in a previous relationship as a risk factor for infidelity in a subsequent relationship. The current study addressed risk for serial infidelity by following adult participants (N = 484) longitu...

Extradyadic sexual involvement (ESI) is associated with negative consequences for individuals and threatens couple stability. Research on ESI in unmarried samples has been marked by methodological limitations, such as examining only mean levels of sexual satisfaction or frequency to predict later ESI as opposed to changes in various aspects of the...

After completing a relationship education program, collecting participant evaluations of the program is common practice. These are generally used as an index of “consumer satisfaction” with the program, with implications for feasibility and quality. Rarely have these ratings been used as predictors of changes in marital quality, although such feedb...

This study compared romantic relationships in which there was a substantial difference (>1 SD) in the commitment levels of the two partners to those with more equal levels. These asymmetrically committed relationships (ACRs) were studied in a national, longitudinal sample of unmarried, opposite-sex romantic relationships (N = 315 couples); 64.8% (n...

This study clarifies within-family and between-family links between marital functioning and child well-being. Expanding on existing prospective research, this study tests whether changes in parents' marital functioning are associated with corresponding changes in their children's well-being, independent from associations that exist when comparing d...

Military couples have a number of distinctive strengths and challenges that are likely to influence their relationship adjustment. Military couples' strengths include stable employment, financial security, and subsidized health and counseling services. At the same time, military couples often experience long periods of separation and associated dif...

This paper focuses on issues sparked by the Couples Relationship Education (CRE) field moving toward a more clinical model to meet the needs of an increasing number of distressed couples coming to CRE programs. We review the concerns raised and recommendations made by Bradford, Hawkins, and Acker (2015), most of which push CRE toward a more clinica...

The majority of research on ethnic identity (EI) has highlighted its role in mitigating risks associated with racial discrimination; however, discrimination is only one of many stressors that ethnic minority individuals face. The current study examined the relationships between EI, emotional distress, and the parent–child relationship among ethnica...

This study tested whether relationship education (i.e., the Prevention and Relationship Education Program; PREP) can mitigate the risk of having cohabited before making a mutual commitment to marry (i.e., "precommitment cohabitation") for marital distress and divorce. Using data from a study of PREP for married couples in the U.S. Army (N = 662 cou...

Military spouses often have concerns regarding the impact of their communication on soldiers during deployment. However, literature is mixed regarding how communication between soldiers and spouses may impact soldiers' self-reported work functioning during deployment, suggesting the need to evaluate moderating factors. In the current study, three r...

To help address the relationship needs of service members, there have been a number of programs offered within active duty and veteran contexts. One program, offered within the Strong Bonds portfolio delivered by Army Chaplains, is PREP for Strong Bonds (PREP = the Prevention and Relationship Education Program). PREP has a number of empirically bas...

Fluctuations in self-reported commitment (dedication) to a romantic relationship were examined among adults in well-established, but mostly unmarried, opposite sex relationships (N = 616) over a period of 3 years, and the associations between individuals’ own dedication fluctuations and relationship outcomes at a later time point were analyzed. Gre...

This article provides a conceptual overview of commitment uncertainty and fluctua-tions in commitment. In doing so, we distinguish commitment uncertainty from related concepts, such as ambivalence about commitment and doubt. In addition, we describe the onset and course of commitment uncertainty. Finally, we highlight several issues regarding the t...

This study examined the effectiveness of an evidence-based, community-delivered adaptation of couple relationship education (CRE) program (specifically, The Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program [PREP]) delivered at two Army installations. The study is a randomized controlled trial with 2 years of follow-up examining marital quality and s...

In this chapter we have two major aims. The first focus is to describe the development and evalu-ation of a version of the Prevention and Relationship Education Program (PREP) that is delivered to couples as well as individual members of a couple. Second, we'll provide our initial ideas about applying some of the core dimensions of PREP to Islamic...

Post-traumatic distress after military combat is a major cost of war. One under-investigated factor potentially associated with PTSD symptoms is specific beliefs about one's military service. This study examined post-deployment self-reports from 272 active-duty U.S. Army soldiers, to investigate potential associations between military-related PTSD...

The vast numbers of military service members who have been deployed since 2001 highlights the need to better understand relationships of military couples. A unique consideration in military couples is the concept of meaningfulness of service, or the value service members and their partners place on military service in spite of the sacrifices it req...

Depressive symptoms are related to a host of negative individual and family outcomes; therefore, it is important to establish risk factors for depressive symptoms in order to design prevention efforts. Following studies in the marital and psychiatric literatures regarding marital factors associated with depression, we tested two potential predictor...

The association of service members' combat-related PTSD with partners' distress is weaker when spouses/partners believe that service members experienced more traumatic events during deployment. Also, when simultaneously examining partners' perceptions of all PTSD symptoms, perceptions of reexperiencing symptoms (the symptoms most obviously connecte...

Latinos have less access to culturally relevant and appropriate mental health services based in empirical research. For ethnic minority populations, culturally adapting empirically supported interventions has been identified as a successful method for motivating community interest, and increasing engagement and acceptability. The current article pr...

Theorists agree that commitment has different components, but the interaction between two fundamental aspects of commitment—dedication (interpersonal commitment) and constraint (external pressures to stay together)—has not been examined to our knowledge. The effects of the interaction between dedication and constraint on several measures of discomf...

Using a nationally representative sample (N = 870), the present study compared long-distance romantic relationships to close-proximity romantic relationships in terms of relationship quality, commitment, and stability. Individuals in long-distance relationships generally reported higher levels of relationship quality on a number of relationship qua...

The study presents findings from interviews of 52 divorced individuals who received the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) while engaged to be married. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the study sought to understand participant reasons for divorce (including identification of the "final straw") in order to unders...

A random multistate sample of married individuals (N = 1,931) was used to explore whether more positive attitudes toward divorce and weaker commitment to marriage may contribute to the greater instability of remarriages than first marriages. Remarried adults, whether or not they brought children from a previous union into the remarriage, reported m...

Comments on the original article by Matthew D. Johnson (see record 2012-08242-001). It is important to challenge some of Johnson's points about the effectiveness and reach of interventions to lower income couples and couples of color and his suggested prioritization of basic over applied research. With emerging findings and practical knowledge gain...

This study examined the effects of premarital relationship intervention on divorce during the first 8 years of first marriage. Religious organizations were randomly assigned to have couples marrying through them complete the Prevention and Relationship Education Program (PREP) or their naturally occurring premarital services. Results indicated no d...

This study tests key tenets of the Adaptation to Poverty-related Stress Model. This model (Wadsworth, Raviv, Santiago, & Etter, 2011) builds on Conger and Elder's family stress model by proposing that primary control coping and secondary control coping can help reduce the negative effects of economic strain on parental behaviors central to the fami...

Relationship education researchers have recommended that dissemination efforts be expanded so interventions can reach high-risk groups. Electronic delivery can help achieve this goal, yet its development has been modest. In this pilot study, foster and adoptive parents, a high-risk group, were randomized to a brief, Web-based Prevention and Relatio...

This study investigated three parental marital statuses and relationship quality among unmarried, but dating adults ages 18 to 35 (N = 1153). Those whose parents never married one another tended to report the lowest relationship quality (in terms of relationship adjustment, negative communication, commitment, and physical aggression) compared to th...

Most Americans now live together before they marry but little is known about how the transition from dating to cohabiting affects relationships. In two studies, we compared dating and cohabiting relationships in terms of commitment and several indices of relationship quality. In Study 1, we used a nationally representative sample of 1,294 unmarried...

Using a sample of unmarried individuals in opposite-sex romantic relationships that was representative of the United States (N = 933), the current study prospectively evaluated predictors of extradyadic sexual involvement (ESI) over 20 months (from 2007-2010). Data were collected with self-report questionnaires via U.S. mail. Participants were 18 t...

The field of couples relationship education has come to a critical junction. We have generally demonstrated that our interventions work (at least in the short run) but to what extent have we shown that the skills and processes we teach are in fact responsible for the success of the intervention? In this paper we review progress made in understandin...

This longitudinal study followed 120 cohabiting couples over 8 months to test hypotheses derived from commitment theory about how two types of commitment (dedication and constraints) operate during cohabitation. In nearly half the couples, there were large differences between partners in terms of dedication. These differences were associated with l...

The current study examined the association between relationship adjustment and life satisfaction before marriage to 6 years into marriage in a sample of 126 couples. Results showed that both premarital relationship adjustment and premarital life satisfaction uniquely predicted marital adjustment 6 years into marriage. Premarital life satisfaction,...

The overarching aim of this article is to review the research on relationship education programs and approaches that has been published or accepted for publication since the last review article in 2003. This article provides a critical overview of the relationship education field and sets an agenda for research and practice for the next decade. A t...

While existing literature has begun to explore risk factors which may predict differential response to marriage education, a history of couple infidelity has not been examined to determine whether infidelity moderates the impacts of marriage education. The current study evaluated self-report marital satisfaction and communication skills in a sample...

Marital Functioning and Divorce in Remarriage and StepfamiliesClinical in Terventions for StepfamiliesConclusion and Recommendations

Although earlier studies have demonstrated promising effects of relationship education for military couples, these studies have lacked random assignment. The current study evaluated the short-term effects of relationship education for Army couples in a randomized clinical trial at two sites (476 couples at Site 1 and 184 couples at Site 2). At both...

The Commitment Inventory (Stanley & Markman, 1992) measures interpersonal commitment (dedication) and constraint commitment. Since it was first published, substantial revisions have been made, but there are no published data on the psychometric properties of the new version. Further, little information is available on measuring commitment for unmar...

Military couples who have experienced deployment and reintegration in current U.S. military operations frequently experience stress regarding the dangers and effects of such experiences. The current study evaluated a sample of 300 couples with an active duty Army husband and civilian spouse who experienced a deployment within the year before the su...

Social support, including support from spouses, may buffer against posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The current study assessed whether the frequency of spousal communication during a recent deployment, a potentially important source of support for soldiers, was related to postdeployment PTSD symptoms. Data came from 193 married male A...

Combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked with elevated psychological distress in service members'/veterans' spouses. Researchers use a variety of terms to describe this distress, and recently, secondary traumatic stress and secondary traumatic stress disorder (STS/STSD) have become increasingly commonly used. Although STS/STSD...

This study examined the impact of unmarried relationship break-up on psychological distress and life satisfaction using a within-subjects design. Among unmarried 18- to 35-year olds (N = 1295), 36.5% had one or more break-ups over a 20-month period. Experiencing a break-up was associated with an increase in psychological distress and a decline in l...

This study investigated associations between viewing sexually-explicit material (SEM) and relationship functioning in a random sample of 1291 unmarried individuals in romantic relationships. More men (76.8%) than women (31.6%) reported that they viewed SEM on their own, but nearly half of both men and women reported sometimes viewing SEM with their...

This study investigates father involvement among a sample of ethnically diverse, low-income men participating in a randomized controlled trial of a 14-hour relationship education program that teaches skills and principles for healthy relationships. Utilizing data from 137 fathers, we examined contextual, individual, and coparental relationship pret...

Premarital (and general relationship) education programs, as a prevention method, have been shown to have a positive effect on marital quality and can prevent divorce. However, it is unclear whether these positive effects are consistent across leaders who conduct premarital education programs. Examining the variability in relationship outcomes attr...

Using commitment theory, the present study explored longitudinal associations between physical aggression and various aspects of commitment and relationship stability. Participants (N = 1,278) were unmarried adults between the ages of 18 and 35 who were in a heterosexual romantic relationship at the time of the initial assessment. Of these, 51.6% r...

This article reports pre-post intervention results from a randomized controlled trial evaluating the initial efficacy of a couples-based intervention aimed at teaching skills for coping with stress and improving relationship skills in a sample of 173 ethnically diverse low-income co-resident mothers and fathers who were raising at least one child t...

Many have argued that it is important to examine different aspects of commitment in romantic relationships, but few studies have done so. Using a large, national sample of unmarried adults in relationships (N = 1184), this study examined four aspects of relationship commitment and their associations with relationship adjustment and stability. We ex...

Using a multi-state sample of marriages that took place in the 1990s, this study examined associations between premarital cohabitation history and marital quality in first (N = 437) and second marriages (N = 200), and marital instability in first marriages (intact N = 521, divorced N = 124). For first marriages, cohabiting with the spouse without f...

Using a sample of 434 couples consisting of active duty Army husbands married to civilian wives, relationships between recent deployment, current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and a range of marital outcomes were investigated. Self-reports from both husbands and wives regarding relationship functioning did not differ between couple...

Using data from 210 couples who provided data across the first 5 years of marriage, we examined how premarital communication quality was related to divorce and later distress. The results showed that premarital observed negative and positive communication nearly reached significance as predictors of divorce, while self-reported negative communicati...

Findings from a large, randomized controlled trial of couple education are presented in this brief report. Married Army couples were assigned to either PREP for Strong Bonds (n = 248) delivered by Army chaplains or to a no-treatment control group (n = 228). One year after the intervention, couples who received PREP for Strong Bonds had 1/3 the rate...

Although second marriages are more likely to end in divorce than first marriages, and thus represent an important target for intervention, there have been no detailed examinations of the use of premarital education in second marriages. Using random-digit dialing methods, 398 individuals currently in a second marriage and 1,342 individuals currently...

Cohabitation is increasingly common in the United States, with the majority of couples now living together before marriage. This paper briefly reviews research on cohabitation, its association with marital distress and divorce for those who marry (the cohabitation effect), gender differences, and theories underlying this association. Suggestions ar...

This longitudinal study examined the effect of the birth of the 1st child on relationship functioning using data from 218 couples (436 individuals) over the course of the first 8 years of marriage. Compared with prebirth levels and trajectories, parents showed sudden deterioration following birth on observed and self-reported measures of positive a...

When doubts creep in and marriages begin to falter, where do couples turn for assistance? In a longitudinal study of 213 couples over the first 5 years of marriage, results indicated relationship help-seeking was relatively common, with 36% of couples seeking some form of outside help during this period. Individual and relationship difficulties pre...

Using a random telephone survey of men and women married within the past 10 years (N = 1,050), the current study replicated previous findings regarding the timing of engagement and the premarital cohabitation effect (see Kline et al., 2004). Those who cohabited before engagement (43.1%) reported lower marital satisfaction, dedication, and confidenc...

This study used a new measure to examine how different types of reasons for cohabitation were associated with individual well-being and relationship quality in a sample of 120 cohabiting heterosexual couples (N = 240). Spending more time together and convenience were the most strongly endorsed reasons. The degree to which individuals reported cohab...

Although research has demonstrated that marriage education has positive effects on relationship quality, little is known about how such services impact relationships where one partner is incarcerated. The current study implemented an adapted version of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP Inside and Out) for inmates in Oklahoma...

Research on the intergenerational transmission of divorce has demonstrated that compared with offspring of nondivorced parents, those of divorced parents generally have more negative attitudes toward marriage as an institution and are less optimistic about the feasibility of a long-lasting, healthy marriage. It is also possible that when entering m...

There is some evidence that skill-based couples relationship education (CRE) enhances couples' maintenance of healthy, committed relationships. This article analyzes issues in the balancing of a limited but growing knowledge base on the effects of CRE with current social policy that is creating an impetus for widespread dissemination of CRE. It is...

Premarital precursors of infidelity were evaluated in a sample of 72 couples (N = 144) who were taking part in a longitudinal study of marriage. Premarital self-report and observational data were compared for couples who experienced infidelity and those who did not experience infidelity in the first years of marriage. Couples in which the male enga...

Although there is a body of evidence suggesting beneficial effects of premarital prevention, little research directly examines the mechanisms of effect. One study that examined changes in communication following training in the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) found that, although couples made the expected communication gains...

Researchers have long been interested in the relationship between marital distress and depression. Empirical findings from investigations into the relative contributions of marital distress and depression to marital communication have been inconsistent, and some communication behaviors, such as the demand/withdraw interaction pattern, have yet to b...

The authors proposed a model of depressive symptoms in early marriage in which relationship confidence, defined as perceived couple-level efficacy to manage conflicts and maintain a healthy relationship, mediates the effect of negative marital interactions on depressive symptoms. The model was tested in a sample of 139 couples assessed prior to mar...

We proposed and tested a theory of the associations among relationship commitment, perceived harmfulness of relationship sacrifices to the self, and relationship and individual well-being. Results from a cross-sectional study of 145 couples provided reliability and validity data for a measure of the extent to which relationship sacrifices are perce...

Recent research suggests that cohabiting men with plans to marry do more housework than those without plans to marry. Building on mis finding and drawing from commitment theory, we asked whether premarital cohabitation history and husbands' commitment were associated with satisfaction with the division of household contributions in marriage (N = 17...