4 - (SYM 19) Impact of a Digital Relationship Intervention for Jailed Individuals

Introduction: The prevalence and impact of relationship distress is well-documented; however, it is not equally distributed across the population. Unsurprisingly, extreme separation and stress in the form of incarceration has significant negative effects on romantic relationships (Turney & Wildeman, 2012). To date, few programs have focused on improving romantic relationship for jailed individuals, with those that have focusing on providing communication skills. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the individual, no-coach version of the digital OurRelationship (OR) program for incarcerated individuals.

Methods: The current study is a program evaluation of OR services provided by PayTel Inc. (a provider of eLearning and communication devices in US jails) between June 2020 and November 2021. The individual OR program consists of approximately 6 hours of digital content designed to help users identify, understand, and resolve a relationship problem. Services were delivered in approximately 50 jails, mostly in the Southeastern United States, on tablets provided by PayTel. Of the 6,518 individuals who started the program, 3,538 participants (54%) completed the program (M age = 36; 69% male; 18% married; 46% White, 26% Black, 10% Latino/Hispanic, 6% Asian/PI, 5% Other, 4% Biracial, and 3% chose not to answer). Post-program measures were only available from participants who completed the program; thus, the present study reports on only those individuals.

Results: Amongst those who completed the entire program, 77% reported feeling “Mostly Satisfied” or “Very Satisfied” with the program. Furthermore, for those who finished the program, 75% reported “Slight” to “Strong” agreement that their relationship benefited from the program (α = .94). Improvements in relationship confidence and knowledge, as well as whether demographic characteristics moderate the magnitude of gains in these outcomes, will be presented.

Discussion:  Given the impact of incarceration on romantic relationships and the subsequent impact of those relationships on individual functioning, child adjustment, and re-incarceration, strengthening romantic relationships during incarceration is critical. With completion rates comparable to some trials of the couple version of OurRelationship with coach support – combined with high satisfaction and perceived impact – results suggest that programs like OurRelationship can serve as an effective relationship intervention for jailed individuals.