Comparison of the Effectiveness of Premarital Education based on Premarital Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge Program (PICK)and Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP)on attitudes toward marriage in couples on the verge of marriage

One of the variables that is considered before the beginning of married life and is related to the next performance of couples is the attitude towards marriage. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of premarital education based on premarital interpersonal choices and knowledge Program (PICK) and Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) on attitudes toward marriage in couples on the verge of marriage.

The research method was quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group with a two-month follow-up. The statistical population of couples on the verge of marriage referred to private counseling centers in districts 1, 3 and 5 of Tehran that 60 people (three groups of 20) were selected by available methods as a research sample. First, Bratton and Rosen (1998) Attitude to Marriage Attitude Scale was tested, then the Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge Program (PICK) and the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) were applied to the experimental groups. Follow-up test was performed. The collected data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test. The software used was SPSS version 25.

The results showed that both PICK and PREP programs have a significant and lasting effect on attitudes toward marriage (P = 0.001). The results also showed that the use of PICK program is more effective than PREP program on the attitude towards marriage of couples on the verge of marriage (P = 0.001).

The results of this study indicated that the PICK program is a priority over PREP as a more efficient and short-term intervention to improve the attitude towards marriage.