The Effectiveness of Premarital Education based on Risk Factors with a Cognitive-Behavioral Approach on the Wisdom of Engaged Couples (Familiarization Course)

Marriage is one of the traditions with divine value. This tradition is beloved by God and emphasized by Islam due to its many effects on individual and social life. Marriage also has a great impact on the individual's existential dimensions, physical and mental health, and even the health of society. Peace of mind, chastity, and chastity, increasing quality of life, generation of children, etc. are among the positive effects of this important matter, marriage. Marriage has a significant impact on various aspects of life, including mental health, and for many people, it is the most meaningful part of life. A successful marriage is like a person achieving all his dreams. The beginning of joint life is done with engagement and a familiarization period. In the propositions of religious texts, this period as a background for family formation can be one of the factors affecting the stability of the family. Engagement can be considered a stage that is done before marriage to get to know the parties to continue life and start a family. This period is one of the best, sweetest, and most productive days of life, and if it is treated with delicacy and skill and its duties are fulfilled, it is an important factor in the growth and strength of the next periods of life. The occurrence of any disorders and problems in the engagement stage means a lack of health, especially in the mental field; these problems are a predictable factor for weakening the foundation of the family, including divorce. A wise decision to get married, in addition to success, will achieve its material and spiritual effects and be immune from the negative effects of carelessness in marriage. With a brief look at the statistics and figures in the growing trend of the ominous phenomenon of divorce, it is clear that the lack of knowledge and lack of insight into the important issue of marriage eventually leads to young couples getting separated after a short period. The reason for this incident is that reason and logic are not in their place in life. In the common life of people, some factors neglecting them may endanger the marriage. Engaged couples should be familiar with these factors before marriage. By examining the statistics and divorce cases in relevant organizations and family legal offices, these extracted factors have been introduced as predictive risk factors. Many of these factors are factors that existed in the relationship between couples before marriage but are ignored due to reasons such as ignorance, lack of thinking, and reasoning. Therefore, benefiting from a suitable therapeutic approach makes premarital education more successful. A cognitive-behavioral approach is a suitable approach that can be used well in this field due to the cultural conditions of our country. This approach has an educational aspect, in which behavioral cognitive techniques are given through exposure exercises in the sessions, prior cognitive reconstruction, and finally, educational homework. In this treatment, the connection of thoughts, feelings, and behavior are emphasized, and it is believed that people can deal with mental pressures by reconstructing their thoughts. In fact, in this approach, people are encouraged to pay attention to their negative spontaneous thoughts and identify cognitive distortions and challenge them, and then by reconstructing their thoughts, they experience better feelings and more appropriate behaviors emerge. Pre-marriage counseling is one of the basic categories that has received a lot of attention from experts and counselors in modern psychology and counseling around the world and is used to help people make the right choice and have a successful marriage. Based on what was said about the effects of premarital counseling training on wisdom in different societies, this research was conducted to investigate the effect of premarital counseling training based on risk factors based on religious teachings on the wisdom of engaged couples in counseling centers in Ray city. Based on this, the upcoming research has been conducted to answer this question: Does premarital counseling training based on risk factors with a cognitive-behavioral approach affect the wisdom of engaged couples?

The design of a semi-experimental study was based on a pre-test-post-test design with a control group, which was conducted in Ray city in 2019. The statistical population was all engaged couples who went to counseling centers or similar centers in Ray city in 2019. The statistical sample of the research included 26 engaged couples who were randomly assigned to 2 experimental and control groups (13 couples in each group). The research tool included the Ardelet (2003) questionnaire, which was completed by the participants before and after the educational interventions. To analyze the data, multivariate covariance analysis was used.

The data analysis showed that there is a positive relationship between the wisdom of engaged couples with premarital education based on risk factors with a cognitive-behavioral approach, but in the control group, such a positive effect was not seen, and the component of premarital education had an effect on wisdom.

In general, it can be said that there is a significant relationship between pre-marriage education and increasing the wisdom of engaged couples and their correct decision-making. The research results show the need to pay attention to pre-marriage education for engaged couples to develop their wisdom and correct decision. The present study, like other studies, faced some limitations. The quasi-experimental nature of the research and as a result the impossibility of controlling disturbing variables, the time limit, and the existence of a limited community of engaged volunteer couples which limits the generalization of the findings, forced to use of the available sampling method to reach the required sample of the research, among the limitations of this research. Is. The lack of reluctance of young people to accompany in the field of such an important matter, unreasonable resistance due to weak awareness and daily life problems, and the strength of defense mechanisms, including projection, etc., are among other limitations in this research. Since pre-marriage education based on risk factors has to some extent changed the view of the tested and trained couples towards their position as human beings and familiarized them with the purpose of life and marriage, as well as with the characteristics necessary for marriage and ways to prevent The disintegration of the family unit after marriage is more familiar and helps to have a meaningful and purposeful life with love. It is suggested that the issue of pre-marriage education is one of the mandatory programs in society by the relevant institutions, especially as a lesson in textbooks. Education and universities should be placed. Also, in future research, such research should be conducted jointly by male and female researchers and on wider samples.