Evaluating the impact of relationship enrichment education on marital satisfaction of primary school female teachers in Birjand, 2012

Marriage and marital life plays a basic role in the elevation and mental health of the humankind, and life satisfaction plays an important part in family’s normal functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of relationship enrichment education on marital satisfaction of primary school female teachers in Birjand. In this quasi-exprimental study (pre-test, post-test, and control group), 80 female teachers working in Birjand primary schools were selected with multi-stage sampling method. Participants were allocated to control (n=40) and experiment (n=40) groups. Education of marital relationship enrichment skills was provided for the experiment group in eight 90-min sessions accompanied by group discussion. Data were collected by the 49-item Marital Satisfaction Questionairre. Data were analyzed in SPSS (version 16) by Independent t test, Paired t test, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney (U) tests at the level of α≤ 0.05. Significant differences were observed in the cases after the intervention concerning marital satisfaction and its components (p=0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the controls after the intervention in terms of marital satisfaction or its components (p>0.05). The relationship enrichment educational program was effective in elevating the marital satisfaction quality and its components (attraction, understanding, attitude, and investment). Therefore, this enrichment program can be used as an effective intervention to increase marital satisfaction.