This study compared the effects of three treatment approaches to training married couples in communication skills on the dependent variables of marital communication, marital adjustment, and the personality characteristics of extraversion/introversion and stability/instability. The initial focus of the study was to determine whether any of the treatment programs--a highly structured (T3), a partially structured (T1 ) or a non-structured (T 2) program -- were superior to any other or to the control group in affecting change in the participants level of communication or in their marital or personal adjustment. The structured programs were derived from the human relations training programs of Carkhuff as well as Rappaport and Harrell's Behavior Exchange Model of conjoint marriage counseling, and adapted for use in a short-term group training procedure. The unstructured training utilized the client-centered approach to couple counseling as developed by Rogers. The number of activities and amount of time spent on each exercise was more rigidly set in the highly structured training than in the partially structured approach. The twenty-four training programs were conducted by two doctoral students in counseling over a seven-week period. A pretest/ post-test, control group experimental design was employed in the research; the data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance statistic, with pre-test scores as the covariate. It was concluded that, although the present study did not produce evidence for the efficacy of one treatment modality over another, some support for the efficacy of the newly designed treatment T2 was provided with suggestions for further research. Recommendations include the matching of couples on age, level of education, and length of marriage when treatments are being compared. Other suggestions include the consideration, in short-term marriage counseling, of pre-therapy selection variables such as level of motivation for change, preparation for the group experience, level of maladjustment, and length of marriage.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc500767 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | McIntosh, Diane Merse |
| Contributors | Dameron, Joseph D., Whaley, Donald Lee, Berg, Robert C., 1938-, McCallon, Earl L. |
| Publisher | North Texas State University |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | iv, 158 leaves, Text |
| Rights | Public, McIntosh, Diane Merse, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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