Comparison of the Effects of Communication and Conflict Resolution Skills Training on Mental Health

Abstract

This study examined the effects of communication and conflict resolution skills training on mental health among<br />Iranian couples based on the PREPARE/ENRICH program. In this study, mental health was measured by<br />General Health Questionnaires (GHQ28). The study adopted a pre- and post-control group design in<br />emphasizing the effects of communication training and conflict resolution skills on mental health. The<br />participants in this research consisted of couples who were referred to the researcher by counseling center. The<br />referrals were done for about two months in 2009. Their problems included marital problems and marital<br />conflicts, commonly categorized as marital dissatisfaction, which were identified after a formal interview, testing<br />and screening. In order to assign the experimental and control groups, purposive random sampling was employed.<br />One hundred and eight participants comprised of 54 married couples were divided equally between control and<br />experimental groups and the training sessions lasted for eight weeks. In this training program, researchers<br />focused on the dependent variable of mental health, while communication and conflict resolution skills training<br />were the independent variables. Specifically, the t-test statistical analysis was employed to test for the potential<br />significant differences in couples’ scores of mental health between (i) the pre- and post-training scores for<br />couples of the experimental group; and (ii) between the post-training scores for the couples of the two groups.<br />The results indicated that teaching communication and conflict resolution skills had significant positive effects<br />on the mental health scores obtained from the studied couples

Marital communication skills training to promote marital satisfaction and psychological health during pregnancy: a couple focused approach

“…The present study indicated that the efforts made to increase women's communication skills would be associated with their improved psychological health and increased marital satisfaction. Many studies have shown that communication skill training is effective in reducing marital conflicts [19,20] and improving the communication between couples [16], and improves the couples' psychological health [13,21]. During pregnancy, due to physical and emotional changes in women, abnormal relationships may be experienced by the couples [2]; however, this study confirmed that during pregnancy, like other periods of life, communication skills training for women can improve such communications and relationships.…”

“…In order to maintain and improve the mental health of pregnant women, we need to increase the ability of couples to resolve their conflicts, after formation of new relationships between partners due to the physical and emotional changes during pregnancy. Evidence suggests that acquiring communication skills can improve the quality of marital relationships and reduce psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety [13].…”

Propiedades psicométricas del Inventario de Estilos de Resolución de Conflictos en jóvenes mexicanos

“…El interés en explicar la satisfacción y la estabilidad en la trayectoria de las relaciones interpersonales ha sido punto central en diferentes estudios de parejas (Schoebi, Karney, y Bradbury, 2012); a la vez, estudios previos han demostrado la eficacia de las intervenciones, a través de programas de entrenamiento de desarrollo de habilidades de resolución de problemas, para reducir los conflictos y aumentar la satisfacción en las relaciones interpersonales de los jóvenes (por ejemplo, Askari, Mohd, Aishah, y Baba, 2013;Perrone-McGovern et al, 2014;Robertson, Fish, Olmstead, y Fincham, 2015). Se ha constatado, incluso, que es posible la mejora de las estrategias de afrontamiento en agresores de género a partir de un entrenamiento reeducativo específico (Arce, Fariña, y Novo, 2014).…”

A Critical Review of the Literature on the Relationships between Personality Variables, Parenting and Marital Satisfaction

“…There is a positive association between the quality of co-parenting and the marital relationship (Morrill et al, 2010). Regarding the co-parenting alliance, the positive marital communication and effective ability to resolve conflicts seem to improve the couple's relationship (Askari et al, 2013). Communication is significantly related to couple satisfaction and the ability to resolve conflicts/misunderstandings (Carrère & Gottman, 1999;Litzinger & Gordon, 2005).…”