Perceived Helpfulness of Four Different Types of Marriage ...

Perceived Helpfulness of FourDifferent Types of MarriagePreparation InterventionsStephen F. Duncan, GenielChilds, & Jeffry H. LarsonSchool of Family LifeBrigham Young University

Marriage Preparation• Marriage preparation is effective• Educational multi-session workshops• Numerous approaches to marriageeducation• Little effort devoted to assessing levelsof perceived helpfulness acrossdifferent types of interventions.

Research Questions• Is the perception of helpfulness, volition,length of intervention, positive change, andorder of interventions related to the gender ofthe participants?• Among participants who participate inpremarital interventions, which one are theymost likely to select first? Of those whoparticipate in more than one premaritalintervention, is there a predictable order ofinterventions, and does this order vary bygender?

Methods• 1,409 respondents completing internet-basedrelationship survey called the RELATionshipEvaluation (RELATE)• Survey added to original RELATE• Relationship education questions includedwhether they have been involved in a class,community/church sponsored workshop,counseling, or in a self-directed learningexperience, designed to help them preparefor marriage

Methods• Of these respondents:• 686 (49%) had participated in a class,• 578 (41%) in a workshop• 411 (29%) in premarital counseling• 746 (53%) in self-directed learning• Asked to indicate how helpful theintervention was in preparing them formarriage

Methods• Asked whether each intervention,compared to before they participated init, resulted in change in 11 areas withdemonstrated importance in predictingmarital satisfaction.• Individual, Couple, and Context areas• Realistic expectations for marriage• Listening to my partner• Family of origin influences

Methods• 59.5% female (29) and 39.8% male(31.4)• Mostly well educated, Caucasian,moderate income• 4 (Intervention) X 2 (Gender) repeatedmeasuresmixed model ANOVA

Results - Helpfulness• Significant main effect for interventionon the general helpfulness item, F (3,1,583) = 12.01, p=.000• Classes (M=4.15, SD=.89) and selfdirectedmethods (M=4.15, SD=.85) ratedmost helpful, followed by• Community workshops (M=3.95, SD=.89)then• Counseling (M=3.93, SD=1.01).

Results – Perceived Change• Significant main effect for types ofinterventions on each of the individual,couple, and context measures ofchange• Individual: F(3, 1,533) = 23.31, p = .000• Couple: F(3, 1,590) = 21.80, p=.000• Context: F(3, 1,609) = 22.02, p = .000

Results – Perceived Change• Weaker yet significant main effect forgender on each of the individual,couple, and contextual measures ofchange• Individual: F(1, 1,340) = 12.94, p = .000• Couple: F(1, 1,333) = 8.06, p=.005• Context: F(1, 1,357) = 13.80, p = .000

Volition and Length of Intervention• Significant main effect for volition on theoverall helpfulness of the four types ofinterventions, F (2, 2,023) = 3.54,p=.029• Substantial, significant main effect forlength of intervention on the overallhelpfulness of the four types ofinterventions, F (1, 2,067) = 69.44,p=.000

Volition and Length of Intervention• No significant main effects for volitionon any of the individual, couple, andcontext positive change measures• Significant main effect for length• Individual: F(1,1,877) = 187.23, p = .000• Couple: F(1, 1,911) = 196.63, p=.000• Context: F(1, 1,918) = 214.51, p = .000

Sequence of Interventions• Class: 52.7% selected it first• Workshop: 42.7% selected it first• Premarital counseling: 35.8% selected itfirst• Self-directed learning: 32.3% selected itfirst

Sequence of Interventions• 37% reported attending classes first, 25%reported attending counseling first, and 19%each reported their first involvement in eithera workshop or self-directed learning.• Of those who made just one choice, thegreatest proportion chose classes(35%)followed by counseling (30%), workshop(20%) and self-directed (14%) approaches.

Sequence of Interventions• If classes chosen first, they were more likely tochoose self-directed learning next, followed byworkshops then counseling.• If counseling was chosen first, they sequenced intoself-directed learning secondly, followed by classesor workshop.• If workshop chosen first, they were more likely tosequence into classes or self-directed approaches.• If self-directed chosen first, they were more likely tosequence into counseling followed by classes.

Summary• All intervention types rated helpful andchange producing, with slightpreference to class and self-directed• Helpfulness independent of gender• Women consistently reported greaterpositive change than men on individual,couple, and context items.

Implications for Marriage Preparation• Preference for moderate intensityinterventions that involve others• Self-directed interventions rivaling, atleast in terms of perceived helpfulnessand positive change, more intensiveand structured interventions.• Difficult to recommend one type ofintervention over another for mostcouples