Relationship between premarital counselling and marital success: Perceptions of married Christians in Ghana

Abstract

The period before marriage is extremely critical in determining the success of the marriage. The period allows would-be couples the opportunity to learn more about each other and make informed decisions regarding the marriage. Churches in Ghana have for some years now organized premarital counselling programmes to prepare would-be couples for the realities of marriage and family life. They have obliged members to go through this premarital counselling before the marriage is celebrated in the church. Reports on increasing cases of divorce in Ghana calls for investigation into the role of premarital counselling programmes in marital success. A sample of 300 married men and women were purposively selected for this study. The results showed that there is a significant mean difference between male (M=1.24, SD=0.16) and female (M=1.19, SD=0.15) married Christians regarding their perception on the essence of pre-marital counselling. Also, the duration of pre-marital counselling did not significantly affect the effectiveness of premarital counselling given (r = 0.016; n = 300; p> 0.78). Christian married couples held a negative perception of the effectiveness of pre-marital counselling. Based on the findings, it was recommended that churches and other religious bodies continue to stress the importance of pre-marital counselling to the members. Counsellors should be more proactive in giving marital counselling to married people to compliment the pre-marital counselling married people are given.

Marital Satisfaction Blues among Ghanaian Spouses: Can Premarital Counselling be a Panacea?

“…The second hypothesis which stated that there is no statistically significant difference in marital satisfaction between male and female spouses was rejected. This finding is supported by Adjovie and Dabone [14], "who even though had reported a negative perception of the efficacy of premarital counselling, found a significant mean difference between male (M=1.24, SD=0.16) and female (M=1.19, SD=0.15) married Christians regarding their perception on the essence of premarital counselling in the marital satisfaction ecosystem".…”

“…However, this particular finding seem to contradict Adjovie and Dabone [14], "who, reporting on a study using a Ghanaian sample, indicated that Christian married couples held a negative perception of the effectiveness of pre-marital counselling in the marital satisfaction paradigm".…”

“…These estimated effects, according to them were robust across race, income, and education levels, which suggest that participation in premarital education is generally beneficial for a wide range of couples". Thus in the opinion of Adzovie and Dabone [14] "it seems wise for would-be couples to consider seeking guidance to explore important and complex issues that are inherent in marriage before they take the vows (p.10)".…”

“…There seem to be an upward surge of of the number of couples seeking premarital counselling in before marriages in churches in Ghana Adzovie and Dabone [14]. Such premarital counselling programmes normally last from anything between three to six months, with the ultimate aim of equipping the would-be couples with the needed knowledge, skills and competences for navigating the 'marriage terrain' with some degree of confidence.…”

“…The concomitant expectation of such an upsurge in demand for premarital counselling among wouldbe married couples in Ghana would have been a decrease in divorce rates among Christian couples. Since there seem to rather an upsurge in divorce rates among this coterie of people in Ghana [8], (Clark & Brauner-Otto, 2015), [14], it is proper to revisit the role premarital counselling play in assisting couples dealing with issues in marriage should they come up.…”