We understand the value of relationship education in enhancing relational skills and improving the quality of relationships (Markman & Rhoades, 2012). Despite the demonstrated success of existing relationship curricula, the importance of adapting content and delivery for targeted populations must not be overlooked. When we choose our programs and identify the clients we are serving, we should certainly ask the question, "Does it fit?" Preventionists acknowledge the importance of both effectively addressing fidelity as well as fit in educational interventions. As our colleagues Ballard and Taylor pointed out to us in last fall's CFLE Network, family life educators should avoid applying a "one-size-fits-all" approach to our programming, particularly when working with targeted audiences (i.e. teen fathers, families in rural areas, LGBT youth). Providing clients with programs that speak to their unique contextual and cultural circumstances can improve our program efficacy.

Because family life educators are in the 'prevention game,' so to speak, we should work to adapt effective universal programs and interventions to be culturally responsive to our audiences (Castro, Barrara, & Martinez, 2004). Being culturally responsive means moving beyond aesthetic adaptations, such as modifying graphics and hiring ethnically matched educators, to deeper structural adaptations, which refer to attending to the core values, beliefs, norms, and other unique aspects of a cultural group's world views and lifestyles (Castro, Barrara, & Martinez, 2004). Attending to the cultural nuances of a specific group, such as prevailing ideas about mate selection or views toward interdependence, may also prompt higher consumer participation.

For this article, I wanted to share my recommendations for applying these principles in relationship education programming for an audience with whom I am familiar – Black college women. Between delivering relationships education workshops in my community and conducting qualitative research exploring Black college women and their intimate relationships, I immediately realized they could benefit from specialized relationship education. I identified unique circumstances faced by these women and specific topics that should be considered for inclusion in any targeted relationship programming. I specifically want to focus on understanding this audience, integrating relevant program content, and meaningful program delivery.

Understanding the Audience

So, what are important characteristics FLEs should know about Black college women relevant to relationship development? First, many of these young women must reconcile their personal goals with relationship desires amid the backdrop of imbalanced marriage markets. Millennial Black collegiate women, those who graduated high school in the new millennium, face an unbalanced campus dating scene. Black collegiate women comprise 64 percent of the Black population on university and college campuses across the country (NCES, 2010). As these women face the potential dilemma of securing a partner with similar educational attainment, they often face personal decisions about expanding their dating pool to men outside their race (Henry, 2008). It is important to know despite increasingly progressive attitudes toward interracial dating among today's Black college students, some studies have revealed that a substantial number of Black collegiate women prefer to date within their race, often out of feelings of loyalty to Black men (Kitwana, 2002).

Developmentally, Black collegiate women are positioned in emerging adulthood, a stage characterized by a focus on self-development (Arnett, 2007). This self-focused disposition prompts self-reflection and self-understanding, which influences their personal approach to dating and developing relationships. So in understanding this group's orientation toward finding themselves, FLEs should choose or develop content which engages participants in developing their relationship vision, along with identifying their standards, expectations and other characteristics valuable to them in a relationship.

With respect to cultural context, we have to understand the features of campus culture that influence intimate relationship development. The campus culture also offers an abundance of opportunities for growth and involvement. For many students, successfully balancing the many dimensions of their lives can be a challenge in this setting. Young Black women have shared difficulties with prioritizing school, social and professional engagement, and their partners, often resulting in unhealthy levels of self-sacrifice and stress (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003; Shipley, 2011). On a global level, the culture of marriage has shifted as well. There are other widely accepted alternatives to marriage, such as prolonging singlehood and cohabitation, we should acknowledge in our programming. FLEs should also understand other relevant characteristics such as family structure and reported attitudes toward relationships, marriage, and sexuality.

Integrating Relevant Program Content

Overall, when developing or choosing relationship education programs, FLEs should choose from empirically informed content based on objectives. This can be accomplished by comparing program content with findings from an appropriate empirical research base (Higginbotham, Henderson, & Adler-Baeder, 2007). A solid relationship program should be process-oriented and focus on factors that are changeable, such as improved individual skills/knowledge, and decreasing risk factors associated with unhealthy and unstable relationships (Adler-Baeder, Shirer, & Bradford, 2007). For a research informed framework, I recommend the National Extension Relationship and Marriage Education Model, a research based, theoretically grounded, best-practice informed model for healthy relationship development (NERMEN, 2007). The model is comprised of seven strengths-based, process-oriented core components that build relationship quality. The model offers FLEs flexibility in program design while also still being rooted in theory, research and best practices.

For a practitioner that is adapting an existing research informed program so that it is responsive and inclusive to the needs of specific audience, interviews are useful in assessing community needs (Backer, 2001). Interviews allow FLEs to explore the insider perspective of a target audience including their experiences, successes, and challenges with relationships. Based on all of my experiences with Black college women, I realized there is specific relational knowledge and skills that should be included and emphasized in an adapted or specialized program for them. This specialized content should be presented in tandem with established, research informed relational skills and behaviors.

What I believe is most important for FLEs to know when it comes to content for Black college women is that positive personal development should serve as a oundation for healthy relationship development. Women in my study recommended program content for their peers that focused on a) cultivating self-love including self-acceptance and self-esteem, b) building a healthy self-identify including self-awareness and reflection, and c) exercising self-agency with respect to communication and assessing relationships. These skills and concepts have also been identified in the literature as important to building healthy relationships.

Healthy self-esteem can serve as a signal for individual to distance his or herself from a situation that threatens their well-being, so it is essential that we integrate it into relationship education (Bell-Scott & Few, 2002; Mruk, 2013; Schiraldi, 2001). Engaging in self-reflection in order to facilitate awareness of personal goals, expectations, successes, and challenges appeared to be a positive strategy for Black college women (Shipley, 2011). Gottman and DeClaire (2001) suggest learning your emotional heritage as well as your partner's to foster positive growth in a relationship. Emotional heritage refers to an individual's upbringing, life experiences, and enduring vulnerabilities (Gottman & DeClaire, 2001). Addressing issues prior to entering into a serious relationship may work to benefit relationship development.

Being able to effectively use your voice and act on your own behalf is also critical to positive well-being and healthy relationships. To illustrate, several of my participants, discussed their own and their peers' inability to always communicate their emotions and thoughts to their partners, either out of fear or wanting to avoid hurting their partner's feelings. Muting their own viewpoints sometimes left these women feeling confused, sad, resentful and at odds with themselves, which has been echoed by other Black women (Beaubouef-Lafontant, 2007). FLEs can play a role in helping this audience learn and practice effective and assertive communication skills.

Another avenue for exercising agency in a relationship is continually evaluating the relationship for quality and satisfaction. All individuals need to be able to distinguish characteristics of a healthy relationship versus one that is unhealthy. In my discussions with Black college women about their relationships both in research and informal settings, they often describe notable signs of emotional abuse, manipulation, and control in their relationships. However, they do not always label these instances as signs of an unhealthy relationship despite the stress or anguish they experience. When individuals have a vocabulary to put an appropriate label on the negative behavior of a partner, they are in a better position to acknowledge the behavior for what it is and determine what action they may want or need to take in the future. FLEs should provide models of healthy relationships in programming because many young people have been unable to observe healthy couple relationships and marriages family and community life, especially among limited-resource audiences.

Meaningful Modes of Delivery

FLEs should consider the audience in program format and delivery as well. In addition to common methods of delivering education, other modes of learning I recommend with this population are discussion circles, social action and peer guidance. Including 'sister circles' into your program, spaces where Black women can share stories with others like themselves, can help these women define their personal standpoint and encourage them to form healthy self-identities (Henry, 2008; Hughes & Howard-Hamilton, 2003).

Engaging in social action can be meaningful to Black women as well (Few, Stephens, & Rouse-Arnett, 2003). Within a program format, Black women can be guided and empowered to spur social action to resist negative images of themselves and their relationships and to also encourage others on campus to educate themselves on healthy relationship development.

Another promising strategy for delivery is through peers. Peers have a strong influence on individual behavior during the college years (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Ward and Heidrich (2009) found that African Americans frequently turn to friends and informal support systems to cope with mental health issues, including those stemming from relationships. A peer education component focused on intimate relationships may position peers as more reliable resources if they have appropriate training. These girlfriends would have the opportunity to offer relationship advice based on research-based information in informal, comfortable settings. Historically Black sororities would be an ideal channel for recruiting these peer educators. Other peer education programs, which have focused on alcohol and drug issues, health issues, and violence prevention, have shown promising results on college campuses (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005).

I have shared information that will assist FLEs in providing culturally responsive relationship education to Black college women. In working with all audiences, it is vital for us to understand their unique characteristics, to provide content that is both research informed and relevant, and to present this content in meaningful modes of delivery.

References

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Ahlishia J. Shipley, Ph.D., CFLE is a child and family program specialist in the Division of Family & Consumer Sciences at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture located in Washington, D.C.