Project Overview | FAQ | Informed Consent | The Spirit of ProSAAM

Project Overview

What is ProSAAM?

ProSAAM was a five-year intervention study designed to find the best ways for African American couples to keep their relationships strong and to reach the goals they have set for themselves. The curriculum for the educational program was based on the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP). PREP is one of the most comprehensive and well respected divorce-prevention/marriage enhancing programs in the world. PREP is a skills and principles-building curriculum designed to help partners say what they need to say, get to the heart of problems, and increase their connection with each other. The PREP program has been in existence for decades.

ProSAAM was funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, and partially supported by the Administration for Children and Families and the Fetzer Insitute.

Why is ProSAAM significant for the African American community?

African American marriages are facing even greater challenges than those of Whites. To begin, African Americans are less likely to marry. Less than half of the African American population is married; by comparison, 81% of Whites are married (Bryant & Wickrama, 2005). Among African Americans who are currently married, they consistently report being less satisfied in their marriages than White couples (Acitelli, Douvan, & Veroff, 1997; Adelmann, Chadwick, & Berger, 1996). Therefore, the presence of stable, satisfying marriages is less normative among African Americans than among Whites. In addition to marrying less often and being less satisfied in marriages, African Americans are also more likely to divorce than Whites. Whereas 17% of White marriages end within 15 years, almost half of African American marriages end within the same time frame (Bryant & Wickrama, 2005).

Strong marital relationships are particularly important because they influence mental, emotional, and physical health outcomes, as well as outcomes for children. Nonetheless, satisfying, stable marital relationships are elusive for many Americans. Given the connections to individual mental, emotional, and physical health and to children’s adjustment, it is easy to see how disparities in marital outcomes might translate into broader disparities in health and well-being (Bryant & Wickrama, 2005). Accordingly, the need for relationship enhancement is great and the need for more powerful intervention programs is readily apparent in low SES African American communities.

What makes ProSAAM unique?

ProSAAM was an exciting and unique research initiative for several reasons. First, the PREP curriculum shortened from a 15 weeks program to a course that meets on three mornings, in hopes of appealing to couples who often times must balance work and family. Second, by including material and activities that recognize how institutional and implicit racism affects and works against the success of African American marriages, the curriculum was adapted to an African American audience. Third, we recognized that prayer was part of the cultural tradition of many diverse groups and was widely understood to be an important avenue for personal spiritual growth and development. Therefore, by providing skill-based training and encouraging prayer for one’s partner, we believed that praying for the well being of one’s partner could engender feelings of closeness to the partner at the same time that it anchored one’s relationship in a religious framework. In this respect, regularly praying for one's partner strengthened marital relationships and increased individual resilience. Lastly, in collaboration with prayer providers in Rockford, Illinois, we seek to determine if couples’ marital relationships improve when others pray for them by name only.

The purpose of ProSAAM was to test whether or not the educational program works. We’ll do this by comparing three groups of couples – a control group, a skill-based intervention group, and an intercessory prayer plus skill-based intervention group. The control group received a book. By comparison, couples enrolled in the skill-based intervention groups were exposed to the traditional PREP curriculum. Couples selected to participate in the intercessory prayer plus skill-based intervention group were exposed to the skill-based curriculum and asked to pray for their partners. The program was structured this way to allow us to find out if adding components increases the ability of the ProSAAM program increases its effectiveness.

Family scientists across the country are eager to see if having couples involved in this type of relationship enhancement program is an effective approach!

How will couples benefit?

Couples learned how to handle or prevent problems in their relationships. They also learned how to support and care for each other in ways that made their relationships better. Couples also had an opportunity to meet couples that were equally committed to their marriages. Finally, couples discussed issues that were important to them as African Americans.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do you have a website?
http://www.uga.edu/prosaam/

2. What is the source of your funding?
The John Templeton Foundation. They are interested in research that looks at the intersection of science and religion. We have also received partial funding from the Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Fetzer Institute.

3. What was the eligibility criteria?
An African American adult between the ages of 21 and 60 years of age who had a mate (of any age or any race) who was also willing to participate. The couple must have been legally married and living with the mate or planning to marry within the next 12 months. Couples must have been willing to pray and have others pray for them as a couple. Couples must have been willing to spend three Saturday mornings in an educational program.

4. Are interracial couples eligible?
Yes. Our eligibility criteria stated that any African American adult between the ages of 21 and 60 years of age with a mate (of any age or any race) who was also willing to participate was welcome to take part in the program.

5. Can I view a copy of the DVDs?
Unfortunately, no because we are still in the testing phase of the program. However, ProSAAM is now available through the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP). You are welcome to adopt the curriculum for your use. Purchase information can be found at: http://www.prepinc.com/Content/CURRICULA/ProSAAM.htm.

6. Tell me about your curriculum.
The curriculum for the educational program is based on the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP). PREP is one of the most comprehensive and well respected divorce-prevention/marriage enhancing programs in the world. PREP is a skills and principles-building curriculum designed to help partners say what they need to say, get to the heart of problems, and increase their connection with each other. The program has been in existence for many decades.

7. What measures, if any, were taken to ensure that my information remains confidential?
First, all interviewers were required to sign a note of confidentiality. Second, couples were only referred to by a generic number after we collected their contact information. Third, only the research team had access to couple’s information. Fourth, all couple’s information was stored in locked rooms or on password-protected computer servers. Fifth, and lastly, we do not look at individual data from participants in the analyses but rather only look at data across individuals at the couple-level or group-level.

8. “We do not need counseling.”
ProSAAM does not offer counseling but rather is an educational program that seeks to enrich couples’ relationships regardless of where they are in their marriage. In addition, we do not work with couples on an individual basis during the program, but rather at the group-level. Therefore, ProSAAM is more like a marriage ministry rather than counseling at a doctor’s office.

9. Who’s in charge of the project?
Dr. Steven Beach is the lead investigator (i.e., principal investigator). He is joined by a team of other investigators (i.e., co-investigators) that include Drs. Frank Fincham of Florida State University and Lily McNair of Wagner College. We also are fortunate to have the support of three theological advisors: Rev. Dr. Kenneth Board of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Rockford, IL, Rev. Dr. Jerry Alexander of Springfield Baptist Church in Athens, GA, and Elder Terris Thomas of Timothy Baptist Church in Athens, GA. Dr. Scott Stanley of the University of Denver provided critical support and guidance as well, especially in the area of curriculum development and modification. Dr. Tera R. Hurt assumed responsibility for implementation and supervising the research team.

10. How many couples have your worked with?
Approximately 400 across northeast Georgia, middle Georgia, and metropolitan Atlanta.

11. “Men won’t buy this.”
Men did have some reservations about participating in research and we learned about their concerns in a focus group in November 2005. For men that were unsure about participating, we asked one of our ProSAAM Ambassadors to contact them. ProSAAM Ambassadors were a group of men that were committed to the project and to the importance of strengthening marriages. Often times, after the ambassadors reached the prospective men, the couple decided to enroll.

12. What’s special about the curriculum?
First, the PREP curriculum shortened from a 15 weeks program to a course that met on three mornings, in hopes of appealing to couples who often times must balance work and family. Second, by including material and activities that recognize how institutional and implicit racism affects and works against the success of African American marriages, the curriculum was adapted to an African American audience. Third, we recognized that prayer is part of the cultural tradition of many diverse groups and is widely understood to be an important avenue for personal spiritual growth and development. Therefore, by providing skill-based training and encouraging prayer for one’s partner, we believed that praying for the well being of one’s partner could engender feelings of closeness to the partner at the same time that it anchors one’s relationship in a religious framework. In this respect, regularly praying for one's partner strengthened marital relationships and increased individual resilience. Lastly, in collaboration with prayer providers in Rockford, Illinois, we sought to determine if couples’ marital relationships improved when others prayed for them by name only.

13. Why have you focused with working with Christian churches?
Thus far, our efforts have focused on a certain segment of churches because we have not yet taken the steps to determine the limits in acceptability of our program for others of different religious backgrounds. We will begin to take these steps before we disseminate the program.

14. What is P.R.A.I.S.E.?
It represents the six ways in which we desire to partner with churches—prayer, recruitment, advertisement, information, sponsorship, and endorsement. For more information, review our article that is posted at: http://prosaam.uga.edu/publications/ABCT%20SIG%20newsletter%20Final.pdf

15. What was the in-home interview?
In-home interviews were conducted four times over the course of a one year period. Couples were interviewed in their homes at a convenient time for them. Each interview lasted approximately 2.5 hours. Laptop computers and video cameras were used to collect information on health and well-being, daily routines, marital relationship quality, and marital interaction. A fifth wave of data was collected using an online survey and mail-in hard copy packets; for hard-to-reach participants, we conducted in-home interviews.

16. Why was it important to assign couples to different groups?
The purpose of ProSAAM is to test whether or not the educational program works. The program is structured this way to allow us to find out if adding components increases the ability of the ProSAAM program increases its effectiveness.

17. What were the three groups?
The three groups were a group that involved no meetings, a second group that involved meetings, and a third group that involved meetings and the information was presented in a religious framework.

18. Who were your facilitators?
They were a group of married African American adults that were well-respected members of their community. The mean years of marriage among the facilitators was 15 years.

19. What will you do with the data?
The information provided by each individual couple is kept very confidential. After all the couples have been interviewed, all of the information is grouped together and analyses are conducted for the whole sample. Ultimately, the information from this study about couples will be used to inform service agencies, policy makers, and other marriage scholars and those interested in relationship enhancement programs that are uniquely designed for the African American community.

20. Can I get a copy of the data? What kind of changes have you seen in couples?
Unfortunately, no. We adhere to strict guidelines from the university’s Institutional Review Board that ensures that confidentiality is maintained to protect study participants. We would be happy though to provide you with published material that describes our findings when they become available. You can find our publications posted on this website under the heading, Publications.

21. What kind of media attention have you received?
A press release was featured in a variety of newspaper outlets in September 2005. Jet Magazine contacted us regarding their interested in printing an article once findings were available. We also recently release a second article to newspaper outlets in counties surrounding Milledgeville and Greensboro in July 2006 and Atlanta in September 2006. We have also appeared on several radio stations in the metropolitan area. You can read more about the media attention we have received under the heading, Publications.

22. Is recruitment still open?
No, we are no longer recruiting couples to this program. You can find out more about programs focused on strengthening families at the Regional office for the Administration for Children and Families at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/region4/.

23. “Your program states that it is for African American couples, but there is White couple depicted on the front of your book. Why?”
We often get many questions about the couple that appeared on the outside of the book. We considered many options for the educational program, but ultimately decided on this book because it was easier to read than other books we reviewed (including a few that were geared towards African American couples). Our objective was to present a program that works well for today’s working couples. You will note that the book is divided into twelve short sections or hours complete with examples, exercises, and text that is easy to comprehend.

24. Who authored “12 Hours to a Great Marriage?”
Howard Markman, Scott Stanley, Susan Blumberg, Natalie Jenkins, and Carol Whiteley.

25. I want to see a copy of the prayers. Can I?
Unfortunately no because we are still in the testing phase of the program. However, ProSAAM is now available through the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP). You are welcome to adopt the curriculum for your use. Purchase information can be found at: http://www.prepinc.com/Content/CURRICULA/ProSAAM.htm.

26. Has anyone complained about the program?
We have not received any formal complaints about the program. Any mild concerns have been addressed by offering additional information to couples and effectively solved.

27. Has anyone dropped out of the program?
Approximately 100 couples have started but not been able to complete the program for various reasons their life situation (e.g., couple separated, too busy to participate, mate will, mate unwilling to take part).

28. When will the program the ready and how can I get a copy?
ProSAAM is now available through the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP). You are welcome to adopt the curriculum for your use. Purchase information can be found at: http://www.prepinc.com/Content/CURRICULA/ProSAAM.htm.