| Summary: | The outcomes of marriage preparation on three variables, a) willingness to seek help with marriage, b) attitude towards the church and c) relationship beliefs were investigated in a field setting. Decisions regarding outcomes were made by juxtaposing findings from a recurrent institutional cycle design, and the pre-posttest design. In addition, post-program interviews were employed to determine the impact of the programs. The sample consisted of 288 participants, with 96 in each of three well established, regularly offered marriage preparation programs (Anglican, Roman Catholic and Couples' Workshop). Pre-posttest measures were collected on 48 subjects in each program, and then on 48 of their cohorts at the next offering of the program. There were no differences found between the three leadership conditions within each program. Statistical results indicated a significant effect for the entire sample after marriage preparation on the Willingness To Seek Help With Marriage and Relationship Beliefs Inventories. There were no significant differences on the Attitude Towards the Church Inventory. Changes in willingness to seek help with marriage and relationship beliefs were found in the Couples' Workshop sample, but not in the Roman Catholic or Anglican samples. Differential comparison indicated statistically significant differences between participants in the Couples' Workshop and the other two programs on measures of willingness to seek help with marriage and relationship beliefs. Qualitative reports based on 30 post-program interviews pointed to the importance of experiential and skill training methods in explaining the measured differences between the programs. === Education, Faculty of === Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of === Graduate
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