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Evaluation
(Full Paper)
Evaluation of The Connections: Relationships and Marriage
Curriculum
Scott
P. Gardner, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
South Dakota State University
Dept. Of Human Development, Consumer and Family Sciences
Box 2275A
Brookings, SD 57007
Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by the Agriculture Experiment Station
at South Dakota State University. Special thanks to Kelly Giese and Sue
Parrott for reviewing the manuscript.
Abstract
Connections: Relationships and Marriage is one of a number of high school
marriage education curricula designed to teach students to develop healthy
relationships and marriages. This study evaluates the effectiveness of
this curriculum with 375 students from rural Midwest high schools who
were in either the Connections group or in another Family and Consumer
Sciences course. Findings suggest that students taking the Connections
curriculum improved in their conflict resolution skills, became less likely
to see divorce as a good option for troubled marriages, and were more
likely to take advantage of pre-marital and post-marital programs to build
better marriages. Implications and recommendations for Family and Consumer
Sciences Educators are discussed.
Evaluation of The Connections: Relationships and Marriage Curriculum
Marital distress (with or without divorce) negatively affects children,
adults, and the community. Marital distress alone has been linked to manifestations
of stress in children including: internalizing and externalizing behavior
problems (Buehler, et al., 1998), conduct disorders (Coie, et al., 1991),
poor academic performance, low self-esteem (Goldberg, 1993), youth crimes
including theft, robbery, violence, gambling, and sexual crimes (Hooper,
1985), social and emotional disturbance in school (Mattison, Morales,
& Bauer, 1992), and teen suicide (McClure, 1988; Nelson, Farberow,
& Litman, 1988). Marital distress has also been linked to adult manifestations
of stress including: substance abuse, criminal activity, eating disorders
(Goldberg, 1993), psychopathology (Bowlby, 1986; Brown, 1996), marital
battering/domestic violence (Bowlby, 1986; Goldberg, 1993; Markman, Floyd,
Stanley, & Storaasli, 1988), depression (Horwitz, White, & Howell-White,
1996; Klerman & Weissman, 1990), and suicide (McClure, 1988; Nelson,
Farberow, & Litman, 1988). Further, marital distress is related to
problems in the workplace such as decreased work productivity and increased
absenteeism (Forthofer, Markman, Cox, Stanley & Kessler, 1996; Goldberg,
1993; O'leary & Smith, 1990; Thomas & Caverly, 1998). Gottman
(1998) estimated that 30% of absenteeism is due to marital distress, costing
$8 billion per year in the United States.
Many intervention programs have attempted to change these trends by focusing
their efforts on the community or on at-risk individuals. Gardner and
Howlett (2000) have argued that given the high rate of marital distress
and the vast amount of evidence linking marital distress to a wide range
of social ills, more effort should be placed on teaching marriage and
relationship skills to all youth while yet in school . Durlak (1995) states
that up to one half of our nation's young people are at risk for later
adjustment problems, thus emphasizing the need for primary prevention
(prevention aimed at everyone, not just those who are most at-risk).
Recently there has been a movement which some have termed the "marriage
movement." With the resurgence of interest in the well-being of marriage
in general, many new and established enrichment programs are enjoying
increased attention. Among the new programs are specialized curricula
which target marriage and relationship education in the schools. Many
of these programs are taught in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) classes.
Although a lot of energy, hope and enthusiasm exist for these new curricula,
to date, they generally have not been studied empirically.
Currently seven programs are available nationally for use with school
children to teach them marriage and relationship skills. These programs
include: The Art of Loving Well, Building Relationships: Skills for a
Lifetime, Connections: Relationships and Marriage, Free Teens Relationship
Training, Pairs for Peers, Partners, and Social-Emotional Intelligence
(Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education (CMFCE), 2000).
More detailed information about each curriculum is also available in a
report by the National Marriage Project authored by Pearson (2000).
The Connections: Relationships and Marriage Curriculum
This study focuses on the evaluation of one of the most popular of these
curricula, Connections: Relationships and Marriage. Connections is a curriculum
that was written for use by teachers, counselors, and others who work
with youth in grades 11-12 (CMFCE, 2000). It was developed by Charlene
Kamper, a family life teacher in Redlands, California, and is published
by The Dibble Fund. The curriculum consists of 15 one-hour lessons that
comprise four units: personality, relationships, communication and conflict
resolution, and marriage. The content of the curriculum aims to fulfill
the needs of today's youth for self-understanding and self-esteem, healthy
dating relationships and values, effective communication and conflict
resolution skills, and the awareness of skills needed to build a successful
marriage. While Connections is currently being used in 35 states and 7
foreign countries, there has been little formal research done on the impact
of the curriculum. However, one informal evaluation has found that the
curriculum had a positive impact on the attitudes of adolescents (Kamper,
1998).
The Impact of Marriage Education in Schools
Some argue that marriage education does not impact later behavior. Laner
and Russell (1995) found that a college courtship and marriage course
did not reduce respondents unrealistic expectations for marriage. In a
previous study, however, they found that taking a problem-focused courtship
and marriage class did reduce unrealistic expectations slightly, but only
for women (Laner & Russell, 1994). Clulow (1996) suggests that one
of the problems with education-based interventions is the assumption of
rationality, or that with proper information, people will make rational
choices. A second problem with education is that people must reflect upon
their own situations for the education to be most effective and some "may
not wish to explore their experience other than in ways that will help
them manage what preoccupies them most at the time" (p. 349). High
school students seem particularly susceptible to both of these issues.
Yet others question; "Is high school early enough to make a difference?"
Shure (1997) suggests that problem solving skills, for example, are best
learned in preschool, kindergarten or primary years. Shure does agree,
however, that children can learn these skills in later years but with
limited carry-over into the future. Additionally, other programs may be
popular, yet ineffective. In a 10-year follow-up study, the DARE program
was found not to be more effective than regular health classes for preventing
drug abuse (Lynam, et al., 1999). The authors suggest that the program's
ineffectiveness may be due to infrequent classes being taught to children
at a young age.
Teaching does work. Despite such studies pointing out the problems with
these programs, many other studies point to the successes of similar prevention
programs. In the area of parent education programs, Luster and Youatt
(1989) found that high school students who took a parenting course were
more knowledgable than the control students. Additionally, they found
that the students who took the course experienced attitudinal changes
in key areas of parenting such as seeing increased affection as good,
rather than "spoiling" a child.
Weissberg, Barton and Shriver (1997) found that a program promoting social
competence for young adolescents produced long-term retention in problem-solving
skills, prosocial values, teacher-rated peer relations and behavioral
conduct. Danish (1997) found that participants in the "Goal"
program learned the information the program taught, set attainable goals,
increased their school attendance, and participated in fewer delinquent
behaviors including violence. Compared with control groups, the experimental
group improved significantly in self-control, interpersonal sensitivity,
problem analysis, planning, and knowledge of problem solving skills. Students
maintained these skills through middle school (Elias, et al., 1986), and
into high school by increasing prosocial behaviors and decreasing aggressive
acts toward self and others (Elias, Gara, Schuyler, Branden-Muller, &
Sayette, 1991).
Sayers, Kohn, and Heavey (1998) reviewed a number of marriage preparation
programs and found that skills-based programs do help prevent marital
dysfunctions. In reviewing a number of studies on skill retention, Cole
and Cole (1999) conclude that "the data from outcome studies on skill
retention has generally been very positive" (p. 274). These findings
and others lead Durlak (1995) to conclude that primary prevention in the
schools really does work.
Only one of the existing seven marriage education curricula has been formally
tested to date. The Art of Loving Well is a literature-based relationships
curriculum for middle school and high school students (CMFCE, 2000). Based
on a textbook consisting of 41 ethnically diverse classic works and contemporary
adolescent literary selections, The Art of Loving Well has been used with
students in grades 7-12 in 47 states within schools, community groups,
church groups, and homes. The textbook contains three sections that include
exercises emphasizing social and emotional skills, effective communication,
critical thinking, decision making skills, conflict resolution, and sexual
abstinence. The sections are titled Early Loves and Losses, Romance, and
Commitment and Marriage. The values of social responsibility, responsible
sex, committed faithful love, and friendship are promoted throughout the
curriculum (CMFCE). Developed at Boston University, the curriculum was
initially tested on 10,000 students in 8th- and 9th-grade English and
health classes. The evaluations assessing the impact of the curriculum,
which focused specifically on sexual risk-taking in relationships, have
been positive. Among other findings, the results suggested that of the
8th-grade students who identified themselves as virgins at the beginning
of the school year, only 8% of those taking this curriculum reported that
they had sex during that year compared to 28% of the control group (Kreitzer,
1992).
Given the lack of research done on most of the high school marriage education
curricula, many have pointed to the need for more information on the effectiveness
of such programs. Mack (2000) in a report summarizing these new curricula
points to the need for independent evaluations that measure specific outcomes.
Laner and Russell (1995) suggest that future studies assess the pre- to
post-test differences in individual students and that studies assess changes
in the respondents' relationships over time. Other studies have emphasized
the need to assess behavioral outcomes (Luster & Youatt, 1989). Based
on the existing research and these recommendations, this study of the
Connections: Relationships and Marriage curriculum looks for changes in
student attitudes and behaviors from pre-test to post-test due to participation
in the curriculum.
Method
Participants and Procedure
Three-hundred seventy-five students from rural Midwest high schools participated
in the study. Of these 375 students, only 213 were included in the final
sample. Some were not included because they were in classes which did
not complete both the pre-and post-tests, and others were removed from
the final sample because students had obviously guessed on large portions
of the survey. The remaining participants were on average 16.4 years old
(Range 13 to 19 years), 88% White, 10% Native American, 2% other, 38%
male, 62% female. One-hundred thirty-two students took the Connections
curriculum, while 81 students were in the control group. FCS teachers
from 22 high schools agreed to participate in the study at a training
session of the Connections curriculum. The teachers were asked to have
both a class in which they taught the Connections curriculum and another
class (to serve as a control group) participate in the study. Before the
curriculum was taught to the experimental group, participants in both
classes were given a questionnaire. At the end of the curriculum, both
classes were again given a questionnaire to assess changes over time.
Measures
The questionnaire assessed demographic variables, behaviors in relationships,
and attitudes regarding relationships and marriage. Specific behaviors
assessed included a self-report of the number of times during the past
four months s/he had been in trouble at school and at home and reports
of the frequency of various tactics used to resolve conflicts with a best
friend. For this last portion, the Conflict Tactics Scale was utilized.
Conflict Tactics Scale. (Strauss, 1979) - A revision of Form -
R was used in this study. Students indicated how often they had employed
each of 18 tactics for resolving conflicts. Rather than asking about how
often the student had done these things with a spouse, a "best friend"
was used. Also the more violent tactics such as "Threatened him/her
with a knife or gun" were not included so as to be more acceptable
to the school administrators who sometimes felt the questions were too
personal. The scale produces three sub-scale scores: Reasoning (how often
reasoning was used such as "Discussed an issue calmly"), Verbal
Aggression (such as "Yelled at him or her"), and Violence (such
as "Slapped him or her"). Straus (1990 reports coefficient of
reliability averages were: Reasoning µ=.61 (ranged from .50 to .76),
Verbal Aggression µ=.80 (ranged from .77 to .88), Violence µ=.79
(ranged from .62 to .88) . Coefficient alphas for this study were Reasoning
µ=.65 (ranged from .64 to .66), Verbal Aggression µ=.85 (ranged
fom .83 to .87), Violence µ=.91 (ranged from .90 to .93).
To assess attitudes, a number of scales were generated from the questions
in the questionnaire.
Divorce Attitudes. This scale consisted of eight questions answered on
a 4-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree (see Appendix
A). A sample question is "It's O.K. for a couple WITH NO children
to divorce if one spouse cheats on the other." Internal consistency
for this scale was µ=.82 (ranged from .81 to .83).
Attitudes Toward Counseling. This scale assessed student attitudes toward
premarital counseling, post-marital counseling, and marriage enrichment
programs. This scale consisted of four items answered on a 4-point scale
from strongly agree to strongly disagree (see Appendix B). A sample question
is "I will go to premarital counseling with my fiancé before
I get married." Internal consistency on this scale for this study
was µ=.80 (ranged from .803 to .798).
Hypotheses
The general premise of this study was that students taking the Connections
curriculum would be positively affected by the curriculum and improve
in key scores from pre-test to post-test. Additionally it was thought
that when compared to a control group, the Connections students would
improve to a greater degree than did the control group. Specifically it
was hypothesized that:
(A) Students would engage in less troublesome behavior at home and at
school after taking the curriculum.
(B) Students would improve in their conflict resolution behavior demonstrating
more use of reasoning tactics, less use of verbally aggressive tactics
and less use of violent tactics in resolving problems with close friends
after taking the curriculum.
(C) Students would have less positive attitudes toward divorce after taking
the curriculum.
(D) Students would have more positive attitudes toward counseling after
taking the curriculum.
(E) The Connections students would improve on the above indicators significantly
more than would the comparison group students.
Results
In a series of repeated measure analyses of variance, behavioral changes
were assessed. Hypothesis-A was not supported as there was no change in
the amount of trouble the Connections students got into at home or at
school over the duration of the curriculum. For hypothesis-B, the Conflict
Tactics Scale sub-scales (Reasoning, Verbal Aggression, Violence) were
used as the dependent variables. Those taking the Connections curriculum
began using reasoning tactics significantly more after taking the curriculum
(F (1,131) = 8.03, p=.005). This indicates that students went from using
reasoning tactics approximately 9 times to resolve conflicts with a close
friend in the past 4 months, to using reasoning tactics 12 times over
a similar time period in resolving conflicts with their close friend after
taking the curriculum. This indicates a 33% increase over the course of
the curriculum. The students did not show any significant change in Verbal
Aggression or in Violence scores.
For the hypotheses regarding changes in student attitudes, both hypotheses
C and D were upheld. Hypothesis-C suggested that student attitudes toward
divorce would change after taking the curriculum. The repeated measures
analysis was significant (F (1,114) = 4.42, p = .038). Students averaged
19.7 points before the curriculum and 20.4 points after the curriculum.
This indicates that on the pre-tests, students were likely to "somewhat
agree" that divorce was an important option for people to have and
that it was okay to divorce under various conditions. After taking the
curriculum, the students, on average, moved to "somewhat disagree"
with statements that divorce was an important option for people to have
and that it was okay to divorce under various conditions.
For hypothesis-D, it was also found that students changed significantly
in their attitudes toward counseling (F (1,116) = 5.19, p = .025). The
Attitudes toward Counseling scale asked students how likely they would
be to participate in premarital counseling, post-marital counseling in
the case of a troubled marriage, and marriage enrichment programs. Before
the curriculum was taught, students averaged 2.51 on a four-point scale
indicating that they were right in the middle of "somewhat agree"
and "somewhat disagree" that they would participate in these
services. After the curriculum, students moved to a 2.41 average indicating
that they had moved to the "somewhat agree" side of the line.
For hypothesis-E (assessing differences between Connections and control
groups), before the analyses were performed, a series of analyses of variance
(or Chi-square analyses in the cases of the nominal variables) were first
run to assess if demographic variables differed among the two groups.
Variables included: age, family income, gender, racial background, family
type (two-parent, single parent), and parent's marital status (divorced,
intact). Of these, only age was significantly different between the two
groups with the Connections group averaging 16.34 years of age and the
control group averaging 16.66 years of age (F (1,208) = 4.15, p = .043).
Age, however, did not significantly correlate with any of the dependent
variables and thus was not included as a covariate in the repeated measures
analyses.
In order to suggest that the Connections students made significantly more
progress than the control students over time, in the repeated measures
analysis we would expect the time by group interaction to be statistically
significant. Only those variables in which the Connections group had statistically
significant changes are reported here. In the area of conflict resolution
tactics, in general, over the course of the semester, the control group
maintained their high levels of violent and verbally aggressive tactics,
and their same level of reasoning tactics. Students taking the Connections
curriculum maintained low levels of violent and verbally aggressive tactics
but increased their use of reasoning tactics. However, the time by group
interactions were not significant for any of these areas.
For the divorce attitudes, the Connections students became less likely
to see divorce as a good option while the control students became more
likely to see divorce as a good option. The time by group interaction
for this analysis was statistically significant (F (1, 187) = 5.07, p
= .026). While the Connections students moved from "somewhat agree"
that divorce is a good option to "somewhat disagree," the control
students moved from an average of "somewhat disagree" to midway
between "somewhat disagree" to "somewhat agree."
For the attitudes toward counseling, although the Connections students
became more favorable toward marriage preparation and counseling, the
control students remained about the same (somewhat favorable). Therefore,
the time by group interaction was not statistically significant.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Connections:
Relationships and Marriage curriculum with high school students. Specifically
it was thought that students would be impacted behaviorally and attitudinally
as a result of the curriculum. A number of interesting results emerged
that supported this thinking. Students began to use reasoning more in
resolving conflicts. Student attitudes also changed as they became less
favorable toward divorce and more favorable toward participating in marriage
preparation, counseling for troubled marriages, and marriage enrichment
to improve their marriage.
Behavior Changes
First, students taking the curriculum improved in their conflict resolution
tactics by becoming more likely to utilize reasoning as a way of resolving
conflicts with a close friend. This is an important finding particularly
in light of the various school shooting incidents in recent memory. If
students can change their behavior and become more likely to use reasoning
as a means of resolving conflicts, violence and verbally aggressive tactics
will likely decrease as a result. Additionally, if these skills are maintained,
students will be better able to develop satisfying and successful intimate
relationships throughout their lives.
It was also thought that the curriculum would impact the other behavioral
indicators of how often the student got into trouble at home and at school.
This did not hold true for this study. It was originally assumed that
as students learned more about conflict resolution and communication skills,
they would engage in less troublesome behavior in these two environments.
It may be that students are either not generalizing these communication
skills to relationships outside close friends, or that it will take more
time than a couple of months for the changes in skills to impact other
behavioral areas. A longitudinal follow-up study could help answer this
question.
Attitude Changes
Attitudes toward divorce was also another area hypothesized to be affected
by the curriculum. This particular attitude is vital for future marital
stability and quality. Amato and Rogers (1999) found that having a favorable
attitude toward divorce tends to erode marital quality over time. And
Amato and Booth (1991) found that those whose parents divorce or had unhappy
marriages subsequently had a more favorable attitude toward divorce in
their own marriage. Combining these two studies points to the necessity
of teaching the realities of divorce to all students, but particularly
to those whose parents have divorced or have poor marriages. The Connections
curriculum seemed to be especially effective in this area. While the Connections
students moved from "somewhat agree" that divorce is a good
option to "somewhat disagree" after having taken the curriculum,
the control students moved from an average of "somewhat disagree"
to midway between "somewhat disagree" and "somewhat agree."
This would suggest that without intervention, high school students tend
to become more favorable toward divorce over the course of their time
in high school. It appears that both groups of students were teetering
half-way between agreeing and disagreeing that divorce is a good option
for people having problems in their marriage. The Connections curriculum,
however, was able to give students a more realistic view of divorce which
led them to be less likely to see divorce as a good option for troubled
marriages.
Attitudes toward attending pre- and post-marital classes, counseling,
and programs also improved after the curriculum. Here again it appears
that students are not really sure what they think about participating
in these services. Before taking the curriculum, students were right in
the middle between tending to agree and tending to disagree that they
would participate in these services. After taking the Connections curriculum,
students had moved to the "somewhat agree" side of the line.
This move in attitudes is crucial because research tells us that these
programs are effective if people will simply take advantage of them.
In summarizing 29 marital and premarital programs, Gurman and Kniskern
(1977) found that these programs were effective in decreasing the likelihood
of marital problems. Hof and Miller (1981) looked at 40 studies of such
programs and suggested that these programs appear to be effective. Research
on specific premarital education programs reports that programs improve
global relationship adjustment; improve commitment to the couple relationship
(Buckner & Salts, 1985); increase self-disclosure, increase acceptance
of partner and use of positive solutions, improve problem-solving skills,
decrease disagreements and negative emotions, and thus promote marital
quality and stability (Markman, & Hahlweg, 1993; see also Markman,
Renick, Floyd, Stanley, & Clements, 1993; and Renick, Blumberg, &
Markman, 1992). Additionally, such programs cut the divorce rate by half
(Markman, et al., 1988; Olsen 1983) and lead to happier, better functioning
children (Markman, et al., 1988). These programs really work if young
people can be convinced to take advantage of them.
Comparisons with the Control Group
In comparing the Connections group to the control group, it was hypothesized
that the Connections students would improve significantly more than did
the control group. This was only the case with the attitudes toward divorce.
Although the Connections students did improve significantly, and the control
students did not improve significantly on measures such as use of reasoning
tactics and attitudes toward counseling, the overall group differences
were not significant. It is likely that this occurred for one of two reasons.
First, the sample size may not have been large enough to produce a statistically
significant difference in variables where small changes took place. A
number of schools did not return their post-test questionnaires, while
other students were disqualified due to guessing. These factors decreased
the overall sample size.
A second reason for the lack of difference between the groups on some
variables could be the beginning differences between the groups. As the
relationships class was an elective class, students self-selected into
the course. The control group consisted primarily of non-elective classes
such as health or other more popular electives such as foods and nutrition.
This resulted in the control group starting off much "worse"
than the Connections group on many variables. For example, the control
group scored much higher on their use of violent and verbally aggressive
tactics on the pre-test. In essence, the control group had lots of room
for improvement, while the Connections students started off with better
conflict resolution skills and did not have as much room to improve.
Limitations and Recommendations for Family and Consumer Sciences Researchers
One limitation of this study is generalizability. Given that the study
was limited to students in Upper Midwest high schools which were mainly
rural, caution should be taken in generalizing the results to other populations.
This was a highly white sample as is characteristic of the Upper Midwest
and again the results may not generalize to urban and ethnically diverse
populations. Future studies should include urban and ethnically diverse
samples.
Another limitation lies in the dissimilarities between the Connections
and the control students. As the students were not randomly assigned to
groups, the "rougher" students did not choose to take a relationships
class. Future studies should attempt to either randomly assign participants
to courses, or to select control groups that are more similar to the experimental
group.
Laner and Russell (1995) call for a longitudinal study to assess the impact
of marriage and family classes on students. Although this study assessed
the students both before and after taking the curriculum, a much longer
time period is needed between testing in order to see the long-term impact
of such curricula.
Lastly, after the various marriage education curricula have been empirically
validated and the studies replicated, Durlak (1995) suggests additional
steps in prevention research. The next step should be to "identify
active program components" (p. 85). For example, at this next stage
one could determine what parts of the Connections curriculum were most
responsible for bringing about the positive changes in attitudes related
to divorce and counseling services. In this way, curricula can be improved,
refined and calibrated for maximum impact in the lives of students.
Implications for Family and Consumer Sciences Educators
Morris and Carter (1999) point to the need to take a "more proactive
approach to premarital education ...including the implementation of premarital
education programs offered in Family and Consumer Sciences classes in
schools" (p. 13). This study adds "hard evidence" of the
effectiveness of one such marriage education curriculum. The results of
the study demonstrate that high school students taking a relationships
and marriage curriculum can significantly improve their conflict resolution
skills. Students can also gain a more realistic view of divorce and become
open to better solutions to problem marriages such as pre-marital and
post-marital counseling. Such courses have promise for decreasing violence
and improving marriages and thus improving the quality of life for individuals,
families, and communities.
A second implication of this study is hidden in the differences between
the control and experimental group students. In this study, the Connections
curriculum was only taught in optional FCS courses. One striking feature
was that students who choose to take these courses are quite different
from those who do not. Those who chose not to take the Connections courses
were much more likely to use violent and verbally aggressive tactics at
the beginning of the school year and were more likely to get in trouble
at home. In short, those who most needed to take a marriage education
course were least likely to do so when such a course is an elective. As
part of being proactive, as Morris and Carter (1999) suggest, this authors
suggest a more asserted effort to establish marriage and family FCS courses
as required courses for all students.
Lastly, with a growing number of new marriage education curricula on the
market, FCS educators should be cautious in their selection of a curriculum.
Choosing a curriculum that has been empirically shown to be effective
should be a major criteria in the selection process.
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Appendix A
Divorce Attitudes Scale
Using the following scale as a guide, indicate how much you agree or disagree
with each statement. Circle only one response for each statement. Answer
as honestly as you can.
YES!
yes no NO!
Strongly Agree (SA) Somewhat Agree (sa) Somewhat Disagree(sd) Strongly
Disagree (SD)
1.
Divorce is an important option for married people to have
2. I will probably get divorced at least once if I ever marry
3. It's O.K. for a couple WITH NO children to divorce if one spouse cheats
on the other
4. It's O.K. for a couple WITH children to divorce if one spouse cheats
on the other
5. It's O.K. for a couple who fight all the time to divorce if they have
NO children
6. It's O.K. for a couple who fight all the time to divorce if they have
children
7. It's O.K. to divorce if a couple WITH NO children just has unsolvable
differences
8. It's O.K. to divorce if a couple WITH children just has unsolvable
differences
Appendix B
Attitudes Toward Counseling Scale
Using the following scale as a guide, indicate how much you agree or disagree
with each statement. Circle only one response for each statement. Answer
as honestly as you can.
YES!
yes no NO!
Strongly Agree (SA) Somewhat Agree (sa) Somewhat Disagree(sd) Strongly
Disagree (SD)
1.
I will take a marriage preparation course with my fiancé before
I get married
2. I will go to premarital counseling with my fiancé before I get
married
3. After I'm married, I will attend a marriage enrichment class with my
spouse
4. After I'm married, if we are having trouble in our marriage, we will
go to counseling
Other possible quotes
"Marriage
and family practictioners need to develop skill-based prevention programs
and interventions based on systematic research." (p. 273). Cole and
cole 1999
"We
believe that the greatest hope for helping couples achieve the satisfying
marriages they want lies in prevention programs and strenghth-based therapy
programs" p. 273
Luster
and Youatt (1989) found that students with lower GPA's experienced greater
gains in knowledge and positive attitude changes than did students with
higher GPA's. We did not have access to GPA data but this could be the
case here as well.
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