The effects of a premarital enrichment program on other perception in engaged couples

Date

1982-05

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech University

Abstract

The instability of first marriages in the United States continues to he evidenced by a high divorce rate, spouse abuse, frequency of desertion, experimentation with other forms of marriage and expressed dissatisfaction with marriage. Professionals in the helping disciplines have long recognized the need for adequate marriage preparation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a premarital enrichment program on other perception in engaged couples. The program was conducted on a series of Sunday evenings from March 1 to April 5 of 1981 at First Baptist Church, Lubbock, Texas. Thirty engaged couples participated. Eight couples made up the facilitated group. Ten couples were in a self-study group. The remaining twelve couples made up a control group. To measure for effect, couples in the facilitated and self-study groups completed the Bi/Polar Inventory of Strengths at the end of the program. Couples in the control group completed the same inventory prior to treatment. An analysis of the data revealed that while couples in the treatment and self-study groups did perceive each other clearly after the program, there was no significant difference between facilitated and control group scores.

Further analysis of treatment effect indicated that, while couples in the facilitated group were moving closer in their shared perception of the relationship, again there was no significant difference in relation to the control group scores. The analysis indicated that there was no significant difference between groups due to the effect of sex. Finally, no significance was found in the combined effect of treatment and sex.

Description

Keywords

Marriage counseling -- United States

Citation