Effects of Life Skills Workshops on Marital Satisfaction

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of life skills workshops on marital satisfaction.

Methods: Eighteen female counselors, psychologists and social workers working at welfare organizations of Khozestan participated in life skills workshops. The program focused on communication skills training, assertiveness training, anger management and negative mood management. Data was gathered before the first and after the last sessions, through Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State (GRIMS). Obtained data were tested using paired t-test. The probability level of 0.05 was accepted statistically significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 17).

Results: The paired T test has shown statistically significant differences between participants’ marital satisfaction before and after workshops (p=0.001). It has also been observed that means of marital satisfaction scores have changed as 7.277 points.

Conclusion: These interventions have a positive effect on marital satisfaction by improving life skills. This type of educational workshops may have merits as a preventive and/or intervention measure for other couples and may be a valuable and efficient resource for clinicians.