Mindfulness-based Couples Relationship Management Program (MCRMP): A Pilot Study on Marital Distress and Marital Adjustment among Young Married Couples in Kerala, India

Description

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23470393

Sebastian Ouseph and Richard Gonzales (The Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas Manila, Philippines)

The current study focused on developing and testing the Mindfulness-Based Couples Relationship Management Program (MCRMP) for young married couples in Kerala, India, experiencing marital distress and low marital adjustment. The program was developed using Conklin’s systematic program development model and was grounded in Mindfulness Theory, the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation Model, and Adult Attachment Theory. A pilot pretest-posttest intervention design was employed to examine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the program. The pilot sample consisted of five married couples (N = 10 participants), who were randomly selected from a larger pool of approximately 100 couples following screening for low marital adjustment on the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS; Busby et al., 1995) and moderate to high marital distress on the Multidimensional Stress Questionnaire for Couples (MSQ-C; Bodenmann, 2006). The intervention also underwent expert review to establish its cultural relevance, feasibility, and therapeutic appropriateness. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The findings demonstrated statistically significant reductions in extradyadic stress (Z = -2.82, p = .005), intradyadic stress (Z = -2.81, p = .005), and overall marital distress (Z = -2.80, p = .005). Significant improvements were also observed in marital consensus (Z = -2.81, p = .005), satisfaction (Z = -2.84, p = .005), cohesion (Z = -2.68, p = .007), and overall marital adjustment (Z = -2.81, p = .005). These findings provide preliminary evidence that the MCRMP is a feasible, culturally appropriate intervention for reducing marital distress and enhancing marital adjustment among young married couples in Kerala. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is recommended to establish the program’s effectiveness and generalizability.