PREMARITAL COUNSELING AND MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG CIVILIAN WIVES OF MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS

Wives' marital satisfaction was evaluated as a function of a premarita l counseling typology in an analysis of data from several thousand mil itary couples surveyed in 1992. Among couples who jointly reported par ticipation in premarital counseling, results indicated that both havin g premarital counseling and reporting higher satisfaction with the cou nseling experience were associated with higher levels of marital satis faction. Among couples who disagreed about having had premarital couns eling, results were still favorable but less consistent. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.