1. Participation, Helpfulness, and Change in Marital Interventions: A Nationally Representative Study
Thomas White, Stephen F. Duncan, and Jeremy B. Yorgason
Brigham Young University, School of Family Life

2. Introduction
The general effectiveness of interventions designed to strengthen marriage has been demonstrated in meta-analytic studies (e.g., Hawkins, Blanchard, & Baldwin, 2008).
Participation levels have ranged from 30% to 44%.
Duncan, Childs, and Larson (2010) studied four types of marriage preparation to assess perceived helpfulness and change among participants using collected by the RELATE online assessment
Classes, community workshops, premarital counseling, and self-directed - seen as helpful and change-producing

3. Comparative Helpfulness and Change Across MRE Interventions
No nationally representative studies regarding participation and effectiveness
Limited research regarding 1) the relative helpfulness of premarital and marital interventions, and 2) which interventions result in the greatest positive change.
The Gap
Limitations of these studies: localized to demographics, regions, and respective samples
A nationally representative, population-level study would help to assess helpfulness and change of interventions in a more generalizable way

4. Research Questions:
What percentage of young married individuals in the United States have participated in premarital or marital interventions?
Which interventions are perceived as the most helpful by young married participants?
Which interventions are perceived as bringing about the greatest positive change by participants?
Is this perception of helpfulness and change related to the gender, educational level, and religiosity of the participants?

5. Participants
Sample size: 979 individuals from a nationally representative study (N = 3,786)
Gender: 52.4% female and 47.6% male
Religious affiliation: 29.5% Christian (non-denominational), 16.9% Catholic, 14.7% Protestant, 2.9% LDS, 2.5% Other, and 15% No affiliation
Annual household income:
9.2% less than $20,000,
21% between $20,000 and $39,999
24.1% reported incomes of $100,000+
Age (16-63 years)
Males: m = years (SD = 5.75)
Females: m = years (SD=5.35)
Education: 8.6% high school diplomas or lower, 33.4% some college education or associate degrees, and 57.9% bachelor or graduate degrees
Ethnicity: 11.2% African American, 4.4% Asian, 73.3% Caucasian (White), 2.6% American Indian, 12.4% Latino, and 2.0% others
Marriage length: all participants had wed within the previous year with at least one partner <36 years

6. Measures Marriage intervention participation:
“Have you been involved in a college class, community/church sponsored workshop, in counseling, or self- directed learning experiences, designed to help you prepare for or improve your marriage?”
“No”
“Yes, I was involved in such a class, workshop, counseling, or self-directed activities”
“Yes, I am currently involved in such a class, workshop, counseling, or self-directed activity”
“Yes, I have both been and am currently involved in such a class, workshop, counseling, or self-directed activity”
Marriage Interventions: “If yes, please check whether you were involved in the past, are currently involved, or were involved in the past and are currently involved in the following: class, community/church sponsored workshop, counseling, self-directed
Response Categories: Past, Current, Past and Current, or Not applicable
Helpfulness – “Please indicate how helpful each of the interventions you have participated in was in helping you prepare for marriage”
Response Categories: Very Unhelpful to Very Helpful, or Not Applicable
Change – “Please indicate the level of change you experienced in your relationship because of your participation.”
Response Categories: Much Worse to Much Better, or Not Applicable

7. Participation Findings
25.9% of people had attended some sort of marital enrichment program in the past.

8. Gender Differences Males Females Change Intervention Type Means
Standard Deviations
Class
3.76
0.92
Workshop
3.91
0.88
Counseling
3.97
Self-directed
3.83
0.87
Helpfulness
3.59
1.28
1.22
3.82
1.27
3.65
1.23
Change
Intervention Type
Means
Standard Deviations
Class
3.72
0.89
Workshop
3.90
0.84
Counseling
4.00
0.88
Self-directed
3.86
0.86
Helpfulness
3.82
1.20
3.98
1.13
1.21
3.88
1.10
Using an independent samples t-test Gender differences regarding helpfulness were found but not for change.
Helpfulness
Levene’s Test: F(3042, )=22.020, t=4.004, p<.001, (men) M=3.75 SD=1.238 (women) M=3.92, SD=1.175
Change
Levene’s Test: F(2885, )=.406, t=-.198, p=.846, (men) M=3.89 SD=.876 (women) M=3.88, SD=.878

9. Class as Reference Helpfulness Change Helpfulness Change
Counseling: t(1, 3027)=3.085, p=.002, β=.71
Workshop: t(1, 3027)=2.161, p=.031, β=.53
Change
Counseling: t(1, 2870)=3.525, p<.001, β=.59
Self-directed*Religiosity: t(1, 2870)=3.338, p=.001, β=.15
Counseling*Religiosity: t(1, 2870)=-3.520, p<.001, β=-.12

10. Self-directed as Reference
Helpfulness
Change
Helpfulness
Counseling: t(1, 3,027)=3.027, p=.002, β=.70
Workshop: t(1, 3,027)=2.122, p=.034, β=.53
Class*Education: t(1, 3,027)=2.085, p=.037, β=.08
Change
Counseling: F(1, 2,870)=3.271, p<.001, β=.56
Counseling*Religiosity: F(1, 2,870)=-3.682, p<.001, β=-.13
Class*Education: F(1, 2,870)=2.355, p=.019, β=.06
Class*Religiosity: F(1, 2,870)=3.897, p<.001, β=.14

11. Counseling as Reference
Helpfulness
Change
Helpfulness
No significant relationships were observed.
Change
Class: t(1, 2,870)=-2.030, p<.042, β=-.40
Self-directed*Religiosity: t(1, 2,870)=3.339, p=.001, β=.15

12. Workshop as Reference Helpfulness Change Helpfulness Change
Counseling: t(1, 3,027)=2.726, p=.006, β=.62
Class*Education: t(1, 3,027)=2.082, p=.037, β=.08
Change
Counseling: F(1, 2,870)=3.546, p<.001, β=.59
Counseling*Religiosity: F(1, 2,870)=-4.192, p<.001, β=-.14
Class*Education: F(1, 2,870)=2.358, p=.018, β=.06
Class*Religiosity: F(1, 2,870)=3.902, p<.001, β=.14

13. The Take Home Messages for Practitioners
Nationally, only 25.9% participate in interventions
Not many people are preparing for marriage through interventions.
Need to be more equipped with knowledge, characteristics, and skills for such large transitions in life.
Women perceive interventions as more helpful than men
All but self-directed (helpful) and workshop (change) interventions were seen as being effective.
Intervention helpfulness and the resulting change may depend on participants’ education and religiousness.
Most Helpful: Counseling
Greatest Change: Counseling
Except when individuals are more religious.

14. Future Research
Personality characteristics of those who benefit most from premarital and marriage interventions.
The efficacy of these interventions, longitudinally.
Marketing outreach efforts or reasons as to why more people don’t participate in premarital or marriage enrichment interventions.