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Current evidence suggests that many people do not understand the difference between relationship education (RE) and couples therapy (CT). A major facet of the theory of planned behavior suggests that attitudes play a large role in shaping intentions and behavior, including the decision to attend a relationship service. If the public does not distinguish between RE and CT, bur rather believe RE and CT are the same, fewer people may be inclined to attend RE. For this study, a brief, online module was created to teach the difference between RE and CT. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group receiving the module, or to a control group. Both groups completed a pretest and two sets of posttests (1 day and 1 month after pretest). Results showed that the module had an effect on clarifying the difference between RE and CT, boosting positive appraisals of the helpfulness of RE and CT, and some effect on the intentions to seek and attend relationship services. As an implication of this work, family life education media campaigns can help to increase knowledge of the types of services available and aid in the decision to attend.

Growing evidence suggests that many people do not see the differences between relationship education (RE) and couples therapy (CT). In fact, many lack information regarding the details and processes included in both RE and CT. If the differences are not understood, fewer people may be inclined to attend RE. RE has experienced various recruitment challenges over the years. The Theory of Planned Behavior illustrates how attitudes and intentionality are linked. If participants gain knowledge about a service, their attitudes about that service and intentions to participate change. For this study, an online module was created to provide information on the details and processes entailed in RE and CT, and the differences between RE and CT. A sample of 224 participants was randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 112), who received a pretest, the module, and the posttest, or a control group (n = 112), who received the pretest and posttest only. Results showed that participation in the online module had significant effects on RE knowledge, attitudes, and intentions to participate.

As online relationship education programs continue to grow in prevalence, there emerges a need for anonymous feedback that is useful for improving content and processes that program participants experience. Additionally, as micro-content is used to educate others on relationship knowledge and skills, qualitative feedback can help explore the most appropriate means of content delivery. This paper reports on qualitative feedback that was organized and coded using thematic analysis. These themes provide clear input for structuring online content for all relationship education programs, including those structured in abbreviated "micro-content" formats.

Although relationship education (RE) and couples therapy (CT) have similar goals in helping build and sustain healthy couple and family relationships, there remains confusion between the focus and structure of the two services. Literature on the marketing of family programs indicates that the awareness level of the target audience should dictate marketing and recruitment messages. Lack of awareness regarding RE and confusion over the difference between RE and CT most likely affects the decision to attend. In order to inform RE recruitment and marketing approaches, this study investigated overall perceptions of RE, RE awareness, and confusion regarding the difference between RE and CT in a sample of 1,977 individuals. Differences in perceptions were also explored by relationship satisfaction and gender. Results showed a fairly high lack of awareness of RE and confusion between RE and CT. Results also showed that respondents in more satisfying relationships see RE less positively, and men see RE less positively than women. Implications for practitioners and researchers are presented.