African American marital confiding relationships: A national survey and a test of an educational intervention.

We present two related studies on confiding about relationships among African Americans. Study one examined how African Americans serve as confidants in their social networks for people having couple relationship concerns. Using a national survey of African American adults, this study documented the prevalence of confiding relationships, the kinds of problems brought to confidants, and which confidant behaviors are seen as helpful and not helpful. Study two was a randomized controlled trial of Marital First Responders-AA, a culturally adapted version of the Marital First Responders program. Results showed improved skills among African Americans participants who were already natural confidants, as well greater frequency of confiding interactions in their social networks. Enhancing the abilities of natural confidants may be particularly important in the African American community because of stresses on couple relationships and the relatively lower use of therapy services.

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