Healthy relationship education for dating violence prevention among high-risk youth

A federal grant was awarded to provide the Love U2 healthy relationship curriculum to low-income, high-risk youth. This research sought to examine the relative effectiveness of a brief intervention with this curriculum compared to the much more intensive relationship education programs that have been previously provided to high-risk youth. Data were collected from 233 participants through measures of training and relationship outcomes pre- and post-training. Participants experienced high levels of training satisfaction, significant increases in relationship knowledge and self-efficacy related to conflict resolution. They also experienced a significant improvement in attitudes toward couple violence in the desired direction. Implications of these findings for promoting healthy relationships and reducing dating violence among high-risk youth are discussed.