There is an increasing focus on evaluating the effectiveness of Relationship Education (RE) programs on reducing relationship aggression. Nevertheless, there has been little by way of a systematic quantitative synthesis of research to date. The primary aim of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis into the effects of RE programs on relationship aggression and provide a comprehensive assessment as to the moderating effects of various methodological characteristics of studies. A secondary aim was to determine whether RE programs reduce negative aspects of relationship functioning that are known to exacerbate relationship aggression. Thirty-one studies (n = 25,527) were included comprising of pre-post comparison studies and control trials. Overall, RE programs were significantly associated with reductions in relationship aggression (d = 0.11, p = .001). Pre-post studies yielded a significantly larger effect size (d = 0.28, p < .001) than RCT studies (d = 0.05, p = .10). Subgroup analysis revealed that participants who reported moderate to severe relationship aggression upon RE program entry demonstrated large reductions in physical (d = 0.66, p = .01) and psychological (d = 0.85, p < .001) aggression compared to those who reported minimal to low relationship aggression on entry (physical aggression d = 0.07, p = .009; psychological aggression d = −0.04; p = .17). Amongst participants who reported moderate to severe relationship aggression, RE programs were also found to reduce controlling behavior (d = 0.20, p < .01) and conflict behavior (d = 0.40, p < .001). Findings demonstrate the emerging efficacy of RE programs for reducing relationship aggression and conflict behavior, particularly in those with a history of moderate to severe levels of relationship aggression.

人们越来越关注评估关系教育 (RE) 计划在减少关系攻击方面的有效性。然而，迄今为止，还没有对研究进行系统的定量综合。本研究的主要目的是对 RE 项目对关系攻击的影响进行荟萃分析，并对各种研究方法特征的调节作用进行全面评估。第二个目标是确定 RE 计划是否可以减少关系功能的负面影响，这些负面影响会加剧关系攻击性。纳入了31 项研究（n  = 25,527），其中包括前后比较研究和对照试验。总体而言，RE 计划与关系攻击性的减少显着相关（d = 0.11，p  = .001）。前后研究产生的效应量（d = 0.28，p  < .001）比 RCT 研究（d = 0.05，p  = .10）显着更大。 亚组分析显示，与那些报告极少关系的参与者相比，在进入 RE 计划后报告中度至重度关系攻击性的参与者表现出身体攻击性 (d = 0.66， p  = .01) 和心理攻击性 (d = 0.85，p < .001) 的大幅减少。进入时的低关系攻击性（身体攻击性 d = 0.07，p  = .009；心理攻击性 d = -0.04；p  = .17）。在报告中度至重度关系攻击的参与者中，RE 项目还被发现可以减少控制行为 (d = 0.20，p  < .01) 和冲突行为 (d = 0.40，p  < .001)。研究结果表明，RE 计划在减少关系攻击和冲突行为方面正在显现成效，特别是对于那些有中度至重度关系攻击历史的人。