Effect of Pre-Marriage Counseling on Marital Satisfaction of Iranian Newlywed Couples: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study examined the effect of selected sexual and nonsexual aspects of pre-marriage counseling on the marital satisfaction of Iranian newlywed couples. A sample of 200 couples was divided randomly into two groups, one group receiving ordinary education (the no intervention group, NIG), the other group receiving special education (the intervention group, IG). IG couples attended four lecture sessions given by the researchers consisting of family planning, personal health, different aspects of sexuality, communication and conflict resolution skills. NIG couples attended lectures presented in the normal preparation program, based on just family planning and personal health. All lectures were given a few months prior to marriage, and then marital satisfaction was assessed 4 months after marriage with 40 questions of the ENRICH questionnaire. Final analysis was based on 64 completed questionnaires. The results indicated that, 4 months after marriage, sexual, nonsexual and marital satisfaction in IG was significantly higher than in the control group.