Effects of a marriage enrichment program: An outcome study

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of a marriage enrichment program. Fourteen couples were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups or to a no-treatment control group. One experimental group received fair-fight training for 3 weeks followed by a sexual enhancement format for 3 additional weeks. The second experimental groups received the opposite treatment sequence. The same counselor team used the same exercises in both groups. The sequence of treatment did not differentially affect outcome. The immediate and longer term treatment effects that were found generally favored the treatment groups over the no-treatment control group on spouses' separate reports of marital and personal functioning. Using larger and more homogeneous samples, future studies should examine the relationship of individual partner changes to couple changes, conduct a follow-up evaluation of at least 3 months, and obtain behavioral assessments of couples' interactions before and after treatment.

Sexual enhancement programs: An examination of their current status and directions for future research

“…Two other studies (Kilmann, Julian, & Moreault, 1978;Kilmann, Moreault, & Robinson, 1978) also fail to assess directly any specific dimension of the subject couples' sexual relationship. Therefore, despite the fact that fully one half of this program deals with a LoPiccolo and Miller (1975a) type of SEP (the other half training couples in the fair-fight techniques of Bach & Bernard, 1971), it is impossible to ascertain empirically whether there were any significant changes in the couples' sexual relationship.…”