Previous research has indicated the importance of providing marriage education to ethnic minority couples who are struggling with their marital relationships. Despite this known importance, significantly fewer resources are available for Latino couples, who have a high rate of divorce. The purpose of this quantitative, randomized, wait-list control group trial design was to determine whether Couples in Contact, a culturally-based, psychoeducational intervention group program for Latino couples, increases marital satisfaction, as measured by the Marital Satisfaction Inventory, Revised (MSI-R). This study drew on cognitive behavioral therapy applied to couples, and the supportive theories underlying family systems theory and Gottman's theory. This study included 50 Latino married couples who were primarily Spanish speaking and either first- or second-generation immigrants. They were randomly assigned to the experimental or wait list control condition. Marital satisfaction was assessed before and after the experimental group participated in the intervention. A 2-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that Couples in Contact yielded significant results for 3 out of the 4 of the research questions assessed. The findings suggest positive changes in the individual couple level, and an effective tool for mental health providers to use when working with Latino couples. This evidence-based program can be used to help reduce the divorce rate, foster the quality of married life, promote a healthier family life, and build a stronger community.

This study examined the direct relationship between actor/ partner effects of negative communication, spirituality and relationship quality and also examined negative communication when mediated by spirituality among four types of couples. The sample included 300 heterosexual Anglo couples (AC), 319 heterosexual female Anglo/ male Latino couples (FAML), 292 heterosexual female Latina/ male Anglo couples (FLMA), and 177 heterosexual Latino couples (LC) who completed a survey questionnaire known as the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE). Variables from this questionnaire that were used in the study included measures of negative communication, spirituality, and relationship quality. Results from Structural Equation Modeling indicated that negative communication significantly predicted relationship quality across all four groups, in support of the literature. Results revealed gender and cultural differences, suggesting that female spirituality did not have a significantly positive influence on relationship quality for either gender in any group, and that actor/ partner effects of male spirituality positively influenced relationship quality depending on the group.