The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) and Carol Darling, Ph.D., CFLE, are proud to recognize Alice Ann (Ali) Crandall, Ph.D., as the 2024 inaugural recipient of the NCFR Darling Family Life Education Research Initiative Grant (NCFR Darling Grant). This new $5,000 biennial grant is available to NCFR members integrating research into the practice of Family Life Education (FLE).

Dr. Crandall will be recognized during a plenary at the 2024 conference. She will present findings from the study during the NCFR Annual Conference 1 to 2 years after receiving the grant and/or presentation at another NCFR-sponsored event. Dr. Crandall may also submit a paper for possible publication to Family Relations within 18 months after the receipt of the grant.

Dr. Crandall's grant proposal, Online Family Life Education Modules Across Three Generations, will examine the effectiveness of asynchronous online Family Life Education (FLE) modules for young, midlife, and older adults on improving family health. Participants will be invited to a three-generation study of family health (young adults, parents, and grandparents) in FLE to examine changes in individual knowledge/skills and between groups (e.g., young adults vs parent vs grandparent).

Research shows that young adults need FLE focused on knowledge and skills that promote family stability and strengthening new marriages while midlife and older adults need FLE content focused on issues relevant to their stage of life (e.g., topics related to health and retirement). However, of equal importance is to allow a diversity of content for adults at all stages, as needs vary by family and across genders and ethnicities. Bredehoft's Framework for Life-Span Family Life Education Revisited and Revised, a reconceptualization of the work of the late Margaret E. Arcus, Ph.D., is a multigenerational framework that expands the definition of Family Life Education and specifies key concepts across family stages, and is grounded in family systems theory. A limitation of the framework is that it does not define differences in young adult versus midlife adults versus older adults, rather these distinctions are masked in more general adulthood and older adulthood. Dr. Crandall will thus expand on this framework through life course principles of time, cohort, trajectories, transitions, linked lives, and agency, integrating the work of Benson & Donehower.

The primary goals of this study are: (1) to engage research participants in Family Life Education (FLE), advancing them from research participant to developing new knowledge and skills. (2) to integrate the practice of FLE and research in knowledge and skills gained in a multigenerational sample interested in the health of families. (3) to determine how well online modules posted in a private social media group engage participants, lead to the accrual of new knowledge and skills, and improve family health. This study will speak to a gap in the literature which emphasizes the importance of having a flexible program according to family and individual needs that encourages all participants to be active in their FLE participation, and providing that content should also be tailored for the desired demographic to yield greater success.

The NCFR Darling Grant will accept proposals again in March 2026. Find complete details about the grant, eligibility criteria, and application process and requirements at ncfr.org/awards/ncfr-darling-grant.

About the Recipient

Alice Ann (Ali) Crandall, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Public Health at Brigham Young University (BYU). Her primary research interests include family health measurement, understanding how childhood experiences affect lifelong health, and mental health in adolescents and adults. She currently teaches a graduate and undergraduate course on families and public health and manages a three-generation (young adult, parent, and grandparent) research project on family health.
 

About Carol Darling

Carol Darling, Ph.D., CFLE, the namesake of the grant, has demonstrated a long commitment to teaching and research in Family Life Education and has made significant contributions to NCFR and to the CFLE credential. Dr. Darling is an NCFR Fellow and NCFR past president. She has been an NCFR member for 50 years and a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) for over 35 years. In addition to her service to NCFR, Dr. Darling has been committed to the integration of research and teaching during her career as a professor at Florida State University (FSU) and at the University of Helsinki, where she taught and conducted research in Family Life Education. At FSU, Dr. Darling established an endowment for the Anderson-Darling Family Award, a yearly award benefitting graduate students.

The National Council on Family Relations is the premier professional association for the multidisciplinary understanding of families. NCFR has a membership of nearly 3,000 family researchers, practitioners and educators. For more information on the National Council on Family Relations or its scholarly publications, visit the NCFR website at ncfr.org.