The Today's Couples and Families Research Program
University of Cincinnati
The Today’s Couples and Families research program (TCF) aims to better understand and support modern couples and families, and to help them build and maintain the types of strong, stable relationships that promote the health and well-being of adults and children.
We seek to clarify how couple and family relationships affect health, and use relationship-focused interventions to improve the health and well-being of family members.
Most research on couples has focused on traditional, first marriages between a man and a woman who have no children prior to their marriage. However, today many couples live together outside of marriage, bring children from previous unions, or include two partners of the same gender. TCF is dedicated to better understanding these couples and families, the challenges they face, and how we can support them as they strive to keep their relationships strong.
We also develop interventions that harness the strength of couple relationships to help individuals improve their health, such as by quitting smoking.
Exciting News!
FAB400 has received additional funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and will soon be able to continue our work on this project. We look forward to our continued work with previous and new participants!
Dr. Whitton and graduate student, Emily Devlin, were recently invited to do an interview and discuss the FAB400 project!
Current Studies:
Our team includes graduate students, undergraduates, and others interested in getting experience with research in family psychology. Click here for more information.
Today’s Couples and Families Research Program is the home for studies in three areas:
1) Building knowledge about the close relationships (especially those between romantic partners) can influence individual health, well-being, and psychological health.
2) Basic research to increase our understanding of understudied and under-served groups of couples, who often face marginalization and additional challenges to maintaining healthy stable relationships. We are particularly interested in the relationships of sexual and gender minority individuals, emerging adults, and couples forming stepfamilies.
3) Developing and evaluating relationship-based interventions:
a) Relationship education programs tailored for understudied and under-served groups of couples and families, particularly same-gender couples. These programs are designed to help couples maintain healthy and stable relationships that will promote the health and wellbeing of the adults involved and foster healthy child development.
b) Health behavior programs that incorporate strategies to help couples work together to be healthier, such as our Partner Assisted Smoking Cessation Treatment (PACT).
Looking for LGBTQ+-affirming or couples therapy?
SAFE ZONE
TCF is a safe environment for all individuals, including those who identify as LGBTQ as well as individuals from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds.