The Dating Recession: Insights form the 2025 National Dating Landscape Survey Young adults are living through a dating recession — and it’s happening during their prime years. The 2025 National Dating Landscape Survey reveals a striking paradox: most young adults want traditional relationships, marriage, and family — but many lack the dating skills and resilience to get there. Significant barriers are keeping them from even starting. It’s not a fear of commitment. It’s a skills gap. Despite widespread interest in relationship education, practical dating skills remain largely untaught — overlooked by mainstream culture and the relationship education field alike. The result: young adults who are motivated but unequipped. They need a road map. One that bridges the gap between wanting a lasting relationship and building one. What You’ll Learn: How often young adults are dating today — and why the numbers may surprise you The barriers standing between them and…
Healthy Relationship Education
Most of us who work with young people know the moment well: a youth brings up a relationship concern — maybe something that happened over text, or a situation that doesn’t feel quite right — and we want to say exactly the right thing. But where do you even start? That’s exactly why we’re excited to share this free upcoming webinar from the experts at Child Trends. This practical, research-based session is designed specifically for people like you — professionals who care deeply about young people and want real tools to support them. Here’s what you’ll walk away with: A clear picture of what healthy adolescent relationships actually look like — including communication, consent, shared power, and boundaries Concrete conversation starters and prompts you can use right away in your work Strategies for helping youth navigate the digital side of relationships — from texting to social media — where connection…
Join us to learn the basics of effective advocacy and government relations for nonprofit organizations. This webinar will include: Overview of Advocacy Basics What is advocacy? How can nonprofits safely engage in advocacy? What is the difference between education, advocacy, and lobbying? How can nonprofits use advocacy to advance their organizational goals? Discuss Policy Trends and Updates Discussion and analysis of current trends, and Emerging legislation at the federal and state levels relevant to the field of healthy relationships. Objectives: Participants will: Understand the basics of government affairs Learn how nonprofits can leverage government affairs to advance their policy and funding goals Find out how to engage in local, state, and federal advocacy efforts Presenters: Terri Lakowski, Esq.; Chief Executive Officer- Active Policy Solutions Jason Marmon, Esq.; Chief Operating Officer- Active Policy Solutions Who should attend: Executive Directors, CEOs, Board Members, Development Directors, Grant Writers, Program Directors and Managers, Policy…
Relationship education (RE) has been effective for youth, especially in contexts of adversity (i.e., high rates of STDs, teen pregnancy). Resilience theory suggests that youth under more adversity benefit more from resource-based interventions. However, most evaluations of RE programs focus on majority youth or take a deficit approach. Our mixed method study evaluated the effectiveness of the Love Notes curriculum, comparing improvement in program outcomes for youth from various backgrounds of potential disadvantage (urban high schools, alternative education, and behavioral health contexts). We found that youth from behavioral health contexts had greater gains from participating in Love Notes than other groups on some outcomes, indicating resilience. Participants found relationship skills, recognizing risks, and sex education most useful. Our study emphasized the importance and effectiveness of youth relationship education, highlighting unique experiences based on context. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Learn about relationship education among youth and its main goals…
Unpacking the Dibble Treasure Chest! You may think you know The Dibble Institute… but do you really? Did you know: We offer hundreds of free resources on our website? We are constantly updating our materials with the latest research? Our training clients regularly give us an A+ for our engaging and effective facilitation techniques? Annually we help hundreds of organizations apply for and win grants to provide relationship education? Join us at this special webinar to unpack the Dibble treasure chest and give you some insights into what’s coming! Objectives: Participants will be able to: Effectively use Dibble’s free resources Review our new programs Explain Dibble’s training approach Learn three key facilitation skills Identify sources for future funding Presenter: Rachel Savasuk-Luxton, Director of Training and Research Aaron Larson, Director of Programs Jo Anne Eason, National Outreach Coordinator Caleb Cook, Senior Trainer Who should attend: Those who currently use or are interested in…
Exploring the Importance of a Trusted Adult In this webinar, participants will explore what it means to be a trusted adult in the lives of young people. Through reflection, and skill-building, attendees will learn how to build trust, listen with empathy, establish healthy boundaries, and respond effectively to youth in crisis. Grounded in real-world scenarios and youth perspectives, this webinar equips adults to show up in meaningful, supportive, and lasting ways—especially when young people need it most. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Identify the key qualities and behaviors of a trusted adult. Understand the importance and impact of a trusted adult. Recognize barriers youth have to identifying a trusted adult. Presenter: Kelley Luckett, Senior Director of Community Integrated Health- YMCA of Greater Louisville Who should attend: Educators, Youth Workers and Mentors, Coaches, Group Leaders, Healthcare Professionals, Social Workers, Law Enforcement and First Responders, Family Members, Parents and Guardians, Policy…
Building Trust Using Unique Strategies for Successful Recruitment and Retention Recruiting and retaining youth in youth development programs, specifically in teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs, is a multifaceted challenge. Systemic barriers, transportation difficulties, and competing priorities are just a few of the obstacle’s organizations face. At PRO Youth & Families (PRO), trust-building has proven to be a vital foundation for achieving success in both recruitment and retention. In this webinar, PRO will partner with Queens of Eve, a community-based organization, to share actionable strategies and insights from their collaborative work. Together, they will discuss key trust-building practices, such as fostering strong relationships, setting clear boundaries and expectations, actively listening, and adapting to meet the unique needs of youth and partners. Additionally, the session will highlight the role of meaningful youth incentives and partner compensation in promoting program success. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Identify three practical strategies to support…
Sexual Cyberbullying & Healthy Relationships Join this webinar to learn about Child Trend’s project Activate: a research-to-practice translation center that creates research-based sexual and reproductive health resources for use by professionals who support young people. They focus on youth who are experiencing the child welfare and/or justice systems, homelessness, and/or disconnection from school and work. The spotlight will be on two Activate research projects focused on healthy relationships and sexual cyberbullying. You will learn the relevant research findings along with two technical assistance tools—Decoding Sexual Cyberbullying (to increase professionals’ capacity and comfort discussing sexual cyberbullying) and Crucial Conversations about Healthy Relationships (to increase professionals’ capacity to support youth to develop healthy romantic relationships). You will also be provided with additional resources related to sexual cyberbullying and healthy relationships. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Learn about Activate’s resources focused on sexual cyberbullying and healthy relationships. Learn about Activate’s research translation process….
Lopsided Love: Asymmetrical Commitment in Romantic Relationships One of the greatest insights on lopsided commitment came from sociologist Willard Waller in 1936, when he described the “principle of least interest,” defined in this way: “That person is able to dictate the conditions of association whose interest in the continuation of the affair is least.’’ Analogously, the person who is most committed has the least power in a relationship. There is a growing and robust literature on asymmetrical commitment, with studies showing that it is associated not only with poor relationship dynamics but also specific personal characteristics such as attachment difficulties. Dr. Scott Stanley and Dr. Galena Rhoades have published numerous papers on this topic. In this talk, they will describe what’s up with lopsided love. Objectives: Participants will: Learn about the nature and consequences of asymmetrically committed romantic relationships regarding relationship quality, relationship stability, and risks for aggression. Be able…
Results From a Recent Investigation of Love Notes Join Dr. Scott Crapo from Utah State University as he delves into recent research on the multifaceted, positive impacts of Love Notes. Love Notes aims to achieve a wide array of outcomes beyond reducing sexual risk-taking, yet limited research has explored its effectiveness in reaching broader learning objectives. Given the significant association between healthy adolescent dating relationships and both current and future outcomes, it is crucial to understand how Love Notes influences youths’ general approach to relationships, particularly across diverse contexts. Additionally, since schools and organizations are often unable to commit extensive time to relationship education programs, Dr. Crapo also assessed whether Love Notes can be effectively taught in fewer lessons. Join us to discover how Love Notes impacts youth perceptions and attitudes about relationship behaviors and also one’s capacity to succeed in relationships. See how changes to the format of Love…
Learn how The Dibble Institute can help you with free lesson plans and movie guides, research, resources and the best in evidence based and informed programs. The Dibble Institute meets its mission with your success! If your goal is to help teens and young adults succeed in Creating healthy and safe romantic relationships Reducing risky decision-making Developing positive assets and behaviors then this webinar is for you!