The Role of the Facilitator in Couple Relationship Education

While much of the Couple Relationship Education (CRE) research has focused on participant factors, unexpectedly little research has considered how characteristics of those providing the programming shape its efficacy. The current study draws upon a diverse sample of 225 couples who received CRE from community educators to examine how facilitation alliance is related to relationship outcomes for men and women and whether having a facilitator with similar demographic characteristics is related to the alliance. Results suggest that the facilitation alliance is related to some—though not all—postprogram outcomes and these effects were uniform across gender and relationship status (married vs. unmarried). Having a facilitator of the same gender was associated with a stronger alliance. Implications are discussed.