Love Together, Parent Together (L2P2): A Feasibility Study of an Ultra-brief Couples Conflict Program for Parents of Young Children

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced additional stressors and challenges to couples' relationships, with potential ripple effects across all family subsystems and child adjustment. Among those who are particularly vulnerable to heightened conflict and lower relationship satisfaction during this time are couples with young children, whose relationships may have already been tenuous prior to the pandemic. The Love Together Parent Together (L2P2) program is a brief, low-intensity writing intervention adapted for parents of young children, designed to reduce conflict-related distress and prevent relationship deterioration. Based on an original writing program by Finkel and colleagues, adaptations include intervention duration and study population. The current study will examine key feasibility metrics related to this adapted intervention program with the goal of identifying problems and informing parameters of future pilot and/or main randomized controlled trials (RCT). The current study is a non-randomised feasibility study, using a single-arm, pre-test/post-test design to primarily assess the feasibility of a large trial, and secondarily to assess the potential effects on outcomes to be used in a future RCT. Couples will be recruited through three community-based agencies with the goal of obtaining a socio-demographically diverse sample. The first 20 couples to enroll will be included. Baseline and post-intervention surveys will be conducted, and a writing intervention will take place (three 7-minute sessions over the course of four weeks). The primary feasibility metrics will include recruitment rates, appropriateness of eligibility criteria, sample diversity, retention, uptake, and adherence, and acceptability. In addition, the researchers will develop an objective primary outcome measure of couple "we-ness" based on analysis of writing samples. The secondary outcomes will include couples' measures (i.e., relationship quality, perceived partner responsiveness, self-reported partner responsiveness, conflict-related distress), and other family outcomes (i.e., parent-child relations, parental/child mental health, and parenting practices). Criteria for success are outlined and failure to meet criteria will result in adaptations to measurement schedule, intervention design, recruitment approaches, and/or other elements of the study design. This feasibility study will inform several components of the procedures used for a subsequent pilot RCT, which will examine the feasibility of the methodology used to evaluate the program (e.g., randomization, attrition to follow up assessment/across groups, and sample size estimation, preliminary effectiveness), and a main trial, which will investigate the effectiveness of the intervention on primary outcome measures as well as mediating pathways.