A COMPARISON OF TWO PREVENTIVE PROGRAMS: COUPLE COMMUNICATION VS. FAMILY COMMUNICATION WITH REGARD TO THEIR IMPACT ON FAMILY DYNAMICS AND MARITAL ADJUSTMENT

WINIFRED BETH SPRENKLE, Purdue University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of family enrichment programs, and the effect of including children in such programs. The following hypotheses, which were based on Family Systems Theory, were tested. (1) Both the Family Communication Program and the Couple Communication Program will have a greater positive effect than no treatment on (a) marital adjustment, (b) the family environment, and (c) healthy family functioning. (2) The Family Communication Program will have a greater positive effect than the Couple Communication Program on (a) the family environment, and (b) healthy family functioning. (3) The Couple Communication Program will have a greater positive effect than the Family Communication Program on marital adjustment. Subjects for this study consisted of 33 families drawn from three central Indiana communities. Each family unit consisted of two parents and at least one child age 10 or older, for a total of 109 individual subjects. Ten families were assigned to the Family Communication Program, and twelve families to the Couple Communication Program. Eleven families were assigned to a no treatment control group. All families were tested immediately before and after the five session programs. A delayed test was given eight weeks later. Marital adjustment was measured using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976). The family environment was measured by the Family Environment Scale (Moos, 1974). A measure of healthy family functioning was obtained from an audio-taped family interaction which was coded by two trained raters using a coding system based on previous research of healthy family functioning. None of the hypotheses were supported by the data analyzed in this study.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology

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