Changes in premarital counseling as related to older cohorts of married couples.

Within a sample of 256 current and former members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), it was found that the longer the time since husbands or wives had married, the less likely they were to report that premarital counseling had been available and voluntary, that it involved more hours of training, and that they had participated in it. However, the reported effectiveness of their premarital counseling experience was not significantly related to years since marriage. It is possible that even though the quality of premarital counseling may have improved over time, the challenges and complexity of marriage may have changed at a similar rate, resulting in no net change in the perceived effectiveness of such interventions.