The Effect of Enrichment Program Instruction on Enhancement of Intimacy among Couples with No Major Conflict

Introduction & Marriage is the only relationship that if is built and continued correctly will satisfy any emotional، mental، and security needs. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of a marriage enrichment program on the couple’s intimacy. The present experimental study consisted of a control and experimental groups each consisting of 10 couples. The participants of the study were randomly selected among a group of couples who have been married for a period of 1 to 3 months. These couples were referred to Shahid Dokmechi Health Center in Tehran in 2008، and had not shown any sign of major marital conflict since the beginning of their marriage. The sampling procedure was performed based on the Mac Master Interview Model. To further homogenize the participants، they were checked for their level of education، age، and the duration of their marriage. After being assigned to the control and experimental groups، the experimental group participated in 7 sessions to receive the instructions. The control group did not receive any form of formal instruction. Both groups were post tested after the instructions. In this study the data on intimacy test were analyzed through analysis of covariance. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that the enrichment program instructions had a significant effect on the increase in levels of intimacy among the couples (P<0/001). The couples in the experimental group moreover showed a significant increase in all the eight dimensions of intimacy. There was no significant difference between the male and female participants in this aspect. The results of this experiment showed that the marriage enrichment program can have significantly increase the level of intimacy among the newly married couples.