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Abstract:
Professionals generally believe that couples who choose to attend marriage education programs are not as distressed as are clinical couples and that distressed couples are not good candidates for marriage education. We examined these assumptions in 129 married couples who enrolled in a PAIRS, Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (Gordon, 1994), marriage education course. Using the Enriching Relationship Issues, Communication and Happiness Inventory (Olson, 2002) typology classification with other measures of relationship adjustment, participants were classified as highly distressed, conflicted, and devitalized. Findings suggest that highly distressed married couples are among those who seek a marriage education experience. Implications for marriage education providers are discussed.
Key Words: distressed couples, education, marriage, PAIRS.
Myths about the inappropriateness of marriage and relationship education and enrichment programs for distressed couples have dissuaded professionals from recommending their use with this population, despite indications that such interventions may be helpful (e.g., Aradi, 1985; Giblin, 1986; Riehlmede & Willi, 1993). Couple therapists, marriage educators, and prevention specialists have long believed that marriage education programs are not the preferred intervention for highly distressed couples but rather that couples therapy is the intervention of choice.
This belief is partially due to the historical tendency in the marriage and family therapy literature to place treatment and enrichment at opposite ends of a continuum (Lebow, 1997). Clinicians believe that education and enrichment programs are better suited for engaged couples, newlywed couples, or couples seeking enhancement of an already committed and healthy relationship. They typically contend that marriage enrichment is only for stable marriages, that marriage education is for stable to moderately distressed couples, and that marital therapy is for seriously distressed couples who are at risk for divorce (Hunt, Hof, & DeMaHa, 1998; Powell & Wampler, 1982). However, past studies (e.g., Giblin, 1986) of the characteristics of marriage education participants upon enrollment suggested that many of these couples might be distressed. Consequently, the present study was designed to further explore the baseline characteristics of married couples who participate in a marriage education program.
In fact, our primary research questions were formulated to address the gaps in the literature regarding the characteristics of couples who enroll in marriage education programs such as PAIRS (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills; Gordon, 1994). These questions...