Effectiveness of relationship education programs for premarital romantic and sexual relationships for adolescents and young adults: A systematic review
Adolescents; PRISMA; Relationship education programs; Romantic relationships; Systematic review; Young adults
Relationship Education Programs (REPs) have gained significant attention in recent years in Western cultures as a preventative approach to promoting healthy romantic and sexual relationships. These programs aim to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to build and maintain positive romantic and sexual relationships, and to reduce negative societal outcomes such as teenage pregnancy and single-parent households. This systematic review will provide a comprehensive analysis of the current literature on relationship education programs for pre-marital romantic and sexual relationships in terms of their effectiveness, various formats in which they are delivered, and outcome variables being studied. The findings show that the outcomes could be divided into seven categories: self improvement, knowledge acquisition, attitudinal changes, behavioral changes, psychological impacts, skill development, and changes in relational dynamics. It has been demonstrated that REPs are effective in knowledge and skill transfer for romantic relationships. Effectiveness testing was done using quasi-experimental designs, experimental studies with a control group, or randomized control trials. Most of the REP research was conducted in the USA; very few studies were obtained from other parts of the world. The effectiveness of REP, program characteristics, testing, gender differences etc. are also discussed. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.
Navaneetham, P.; Barani Kanth, D.; Shikhila, T.
Psychology of Sexuality & Mental Health Vol. 2: Modern Approaches;pp.97-130
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8971-9_3 https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005821594?origin=resultslist
Navaneetham P., School of Psychological Sciences, Christ University, Bangalore, India; Barani Kanth D., Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India; Shikhila T., Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India