The Effectiveness of Olson Couples Enrichment on Couples\' Marital Intimacy

Abstract

Aim and Background: Intimacy is a key and important property of a marital relationship and a distinguished attribute of a successful marriage. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the couple relationship enrichment by Olson’s method on the increase in the marital intimacy of couples. Methods and Materials: The present study was methodologically quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with a 45-day follow-up. The statistical population was 30 couples from Farsan city and its suburb in 2018. The sample of the present study comprised 20 couples voluntarily selected from the couples in Farsan city and its suburb according to a call on educational-counseling courses. The experimental group received the couple relationship enrichment training by Olson’s method for 7 sessions. The control group was also in the waiting list. To collect data, we employed Bagharouzi’s Marital Intimacy Questionnaire. To analyze the data, we used a mixed-ANOVA test. Findings: The results revealed that the couple relationship enrichment by Olson’s method was effective in increasing the marital intimacy of couples in Farsan city (p<0.001). Furthermore, this effect was also stable in the follow-up phase after 45 days (p<0.001). Conclusions: Training communicational skills in the couple relationship enrichment approach by Olson’s method could be effective in enhancing the marital intimacy of couples in Farsan city. Theoretical and applied considerations have been posed in the conclusion part.

Keywords

• couple relationship enrichment
• olson’s model
• marital intimacy
• couples