Premarital counseling extolled

A statewide survey on marriage completed last fall shows 92 percent of respondents believe that premarital education or counseling is important to the success of a marriage.

That's just one of myriad findings in the report, "Marriage in Utah," issued in October by the Governor's Commission on Marriage and Utah State University Extension. The report surveyed 1,316 adults, both married and divorced, last spring. It found that among married people, those who reported being the happiest had "a higher level of overall commitment to their spouse, more frequent dating and talking as friends, and less frequent conflicts and negative communication."

"The biggest discriminator between couples who were happy and those who were not was negative interaction," the report said.

Jason S. Carroll, assistant professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University, has testified twice before the state Judiciary Committee during the current legislative session regarding findings of a study on premarital education and counseling he co- authored.

It examined all the studies that have been completed on the impact of pre-marriage intervention and the difference it makes. "The average participant in a premarital program tends to experience a 30 percent increase in the measure of outcome success," with that success being defined by measuring higher levels of relationship satisfaction, level of partnership and improved couple communication.

He's careful to emphasize the premarital programs have not yet been studied long enough to dub them "divorce prevention" but says the results are analogous to studying reduction in heart disease. A study of cholesterol levels -- which has been linked to heart disease -- will give you an indication about factors that contribute to the problem, he said, just as his study examines the factors that are believed to help prevent marital breakdown.

The average length of premarital prevention programs that register a significant impact? From eight to 10 hours.

That's time the engaged couple spends together either in counseling or a formal marriage-preparation class that examines their individual personalities and compatibility. The data didn't measure the impact of high school or college-level courses taken without a prospective spouse.

The results stunned Carroll, particularly since the participants "are rosy-eyed couples who don't go into these programs expecting to make a change" in the way they relate. "Yet they're still getting the benefits of the change it makes" in the way they deal with problems."

The Web site www.utahmarriage.org has information and free online premarital class.

E-mail: carrie@desnews.com

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.