This study examines the impact of an intervention designed to prevent divorce and marital distress. Both short-and long-term effects of a cognitive-behavioral marital distress prevention program were assessed. Forty-two couples planning marriage were matched and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 21) and control (n = 21) conditions. Couples participated in pre-and postintervention assessment sessions and in similar assessment sessions 1 Vi years and 3 years later. The intervention emphasized communication and problem-solving skills, clarifying and sharing expectations, and sensual/ sexual enhancement. Although postintervention results indicated that couples learned the skills taught in the program, no group differences emerged on self-report measures of relationship quality. At 1V4 years, intervention couples showed higher levels of relationship satisfaction than control couples. At 3 years, intervention couples showed higher levels of both relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction and lower levels of problem intensity. These data support cost-effective prevention programs for attacking the major social problem of divorce.The need for well-designed and empirically validated interventions to prevent marital distress is evident both from current divorce statistics and from studies of relationship development.Because newlyweds in the United States still face a 50% likelihood of getting a divorce (National Center for Health Statistics, 1987), almost every couple can be considered to be at risk for divorce and for the resulting stress on themselves and their children (Bloom, 1985). Furthermore, studies of relationship development have indicated that factors such as poor communication and problem-solving skills and dissatisfaction with interactions, when they are present premaritally or early in marriage, can predict the development of relationship distress later in marriage (Markman, 1981). For example, longitudinal studies have indicated that dysfunctional communication patterns precede the development of marital problems and that early signs of future distress are potentially identifiable in premarital interaction, independent of the couple's level of premarital relationship satisfaction (Markman, 1981). Furthermore, once dysfunctional interaction patterns form, they are hard to modify (Raush, Barry, Hertel, & Swain, 1974). Therefore, couples may benefit from premarital communication training before severe marital conflict develops.
