糖心传媒

Couples report healthier, stronger relationships after one month of using a relationship app codeveloped by a Rochester psychologist.

Half of all marriages in the United States are by the time the spouses reach their 50s. Understandably, many couples are looking for ways to avoid becoming part of that statistic, well aware of a divorce糖心传媒檚 possible wide-reaching detrimental effects on families, children, personal finances, individual well-being糖心传媒攁苍诲 direct and indirect costs to society.

, an associate professor of at the 糖心传媒, has been with his partner for 15 years, the last four of them happily married.

But that糖心传媒檚 not what makes him an expert on marriage. What does are his decades of research into the complex dynamics of romantic relationships and families. For the last 28 years, Rogge has focused his research on relationships and the early years of marriage, while searching for ways to help couples nurture and strengthen their love.

One of those ways糖心传媒攈is newest and 糖心传媒渕ost successful project, based on its extensive reach,糖心传媒� Rogge says糖心传媒攊s a relationship app that he codeveloped with a former 糖心传媒 student. In a , published in the Journal of Family Psychology, Rogge found that the overwhelming majority of study participants糖心传媒�8 out of 10糖心传媒攔eported improved and healthier relationships after one month of app usage.

糖心传媒淥ur primary goal was to create an app that couples would intrinsically enjoy using, which would naturally grow in popularity, and thereby organically extend its reach,糖心传媒� says Rogge.

The relationship wellness smartphone app is the brain child of , who studied epidemiology and neuroscience as an undergraduate at Rochester. Barely in her twenties, she was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart arrythmia disorder, which has a . At first, she wasn’t responding well to treatment. 糖心传媒淭hat inspired me to ask more meaningful questions of the people I loved, because I wasn糖心传媒檛 sure how much time I would have left with them,糖心传媒� Okwudili recalls. 糖心传媒淥ver time, I realized that although my health was deteriorating, my relationships started thriving in a way that they hadn糖心传媒檛 before.糖心传媒�

In 2019, with her health finally stabilized, she wondered why it had taken several near-death experiences to arrive at meaningful conversations and how best to share her own epiphany with others.

糖心传媒淚 thought, perhaps, if there was a way to encourage people to answer these types of questions with the people they loved, they could see the same benefits that I did糖心传媒攚ithout having to go through something so traumatic,糖心传媒� says Okwudili.

Together with Rogge, she began to develop and test content for , generating thousands of questions that would be relevant for a wide range of couples.

Today, Okwudili is the founder and CEO of 础驳补辫茅 Wellness Inc., with Rogge as the startup糖心传媒檚 chief research officer. Launched in early 2021 via the Google and Apple app stores, their app went viral after a user created a , which resulted in a whopping 160,000 plus installs overnight. To date, the app has had more than two million users.

How does the 础驳补辫茅聽relationship app work?

础驳补辫茅 sends registered couples a daily prompt, such as 糖心传媒淲hat糖心传媒檚 something that your partner did in the past week that made you laugh?糖心传媒� or 糖心传媒淒escribe a time you were thankful to have your partner by your side糖心传媒� or 糖心传媒淚f your partner had a theme song that would play around them as they went through their day, what would it be and why?糖心传媒� Or something more outlandish, such as: 糖心传媒淲hat unique skills would your partner bring to surviving a zombie apocalypse?糖心传媒�

Once both partners have answered the prompt, they can see each other糖心传媒檚 responses, possibly sparking a meaningful conversation, 糖心传媒渆nhancing awareness糖心传媒� and promoting 糖心传媒渕oments of connection,糖心传媒� says Rogge, who has pilot tested over 4,000 prompts over the last four years, grounded in marital and couples research of the last 40 years.

In developing the app, the team prioritized the user experience and focused at every decision point on deepening that experience, says Rogge. 糖心传媒淲e listened to users. Essentially, it had to be fun and easy to use.糖心传媒�

But can a happier, healthier, and stronger relationship really be achieved by simply answering daily prompts from a relationship app?

How effective is the app? A scientific test

Three years after its inception, the team糖心传媒攃onsisting of Rogge, Okwudili, and Jenna Macri 糖心传媒�20 (who graduated with a double major in psychology and brain and cognitive sciences from the University and is now a senior research assistant at 础驳补辫茅)糖心传媒攕ubjected the app to scientific testing.

For the recent pilot study, the researchers recruited 405 romantic couples. Ninety-one percent were heterosexual and the vast majority糖心传媒�84 percent糖心传媒攊n their twenties and thirties. The couples had been in their current relationships for an average of 4.6 years. While most couples in the study糖心传媒�31 percent of whom were married糖心传媒攚ere reasonably satisfied with their relationships, roughly a third were notably not.

The team followed the participants over the course of one month on the app, during which the couples completed baseline assessments at the start, shorter weekly wellness checks within the app, and again an assessment at the end of the month. Engagement remained high throughout, with 99 percent of couples using the app, and 88 percent providing follow-up data.

糖心传媒楥onnecting with others is a fundamental psychological need糖心传媒�

The vast majority of study participants (80 percent) saw their relationships becoming happier over the month of using the app. 糖心传媒淭hat translated to a significant decrease in their reports of perceived negative relationship qualities and an increase in relationship satisfaction and dedication,糖心传媒� says Rogge.

Just as important were the effects on well-being, says Rogge, with 70 percent of respondents reporting feeling better. That was echoed in noticeable drops in people糖心传媒檚 depressive symptoms and corresponding increases in vitality and a better quality of life.

糖心传媒淲e found that regular app use really mattered. Couples who completed more daily prompts had stronger gains in their relationships,糖心传媒� he says.

Rogge notes that the team糖心传媒檚 efforts to engage users worked well: 93 percent said the app was enjoyable, and 74 percent found it easy to use, 糖心传媒渨hich we think increases the likelihood that couples will make the app a daily habit.糖心传媒�

A wide range of interventions to make relationships last have been developed over the past half century; however, research has shown that practical barriers, such as the need for trained facilitators, have resulted in limited dissemination. Other self-directed interventions, while cheap and practical, are often hampered in their reach and effectiveness by low levels of engagement, with couples completing only a small fraction of the requirements.

Although the present study focuses on romantic relationships, the app can also be used to help you feel close to your friends or family, says Rogge. The fundamental principles that underpin couples糖心传媒� ties generalize to other kinds of close relationships. 糖心传媒淲e know that using the app not only benefits your relationship but also your own well-being,糖心传媒� Rogge says. 糖心传媒淯sing the app with more people in your life is likely to have even stronger individual benefits because we know that connecting with others is a fundamental psychological need.糖心传媒� And that will be one of their next studies, he says. Already the app allows for use with friends and family members.

Reaching糖心传媒攁苍诲 helping糖心传媒攎illions of couples

In 2013, Rogge and fellow researchers had piloted another successful home therapy that showed that couples who watched romantic comedies or dramas together糖心传媒攕uch as As Good as It Gets, Indecent Proposal, Funny Girl, or Mr. and Mrs. Smith糖心传媒攁苍诲 , had stronger and longer-lasting relationships.

While effective, the strategy did not become widely used. 糖心传媒淐ouples seemed to have a hard time to set aside two or three hours to watch a movie and then discuss it,糖心传媒� says Rogge. 糖心传媒淭he app project is exciting because it helps my research get into the hands of millions of couples and, I hope, will actually improve their lives,糖心传媒� says Rogge.

For Okwudili the app remains personal. By taking the initiative to ask deeper questions, she found that 糖心传媒淚 could be a better partner, I could be a better friend, I could be a better daughter糖心传媒攂ecause I understood how the people closest to me felt about things much more deeply.糖心传媒�

Because Rogge and Okwudili are both stockholders in 础驳补辫茅 Wellness Inc., the study was conducted under a conflict-of-interest plan with the University of Rochester. The study糖心传媒檚 data and materials can be accessed at the .

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