The Moderating Role of Relationship Skills Education on Depressive Symptoms in Fathers With Young Children

Drawing on couple-focused prevention intervention models that target family level processes, we used complier average causal effect (CACE) estimates to determine whether relationship skills education moderated the association between fathers' depressive symptoms assessed when their children were 15-months-old and again when their children were 36-months-old. The sample consisted of low-income Hispanic American, European American, and African American fathers (N = 2,540) from the Building Strong Families Study. Fathers from 8 sites across the United States were randomly assigned to either a treatment group who were offered relationship skills education or a control group. Paternal age and family residential stability predicted fathers' utilization of intervention services. Relationship skills education moderated the association between depressive symptoms at 15 months and depressive symptoms at 36 months. The impact of dosage of relationship skills education on depressive symptoms was inconsistent and dependent on percentage of receipt of relationship skills education classes. Data are interpreted in the context of the efficacy of intervention programs for tempering depressive symptoms in low-income fathers with young children. Public Policy Relevance Statement Relationship skills education classes that focused on trust, intimacy, and communication led to a decrease in depressive symptoms in fathers with preschool-aged children.