title: Effects of a couple communication program on marital adjustment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Couples are usually advised to improve their communication skills to increase harmony and avoid conflicts. However, studies aimed at increasing marital adjustment in primary care are limited.
  
  
  METHODS
  A Couple Communication Program was announced at the Ondokuz Mayis University Permanent Education Center, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale was administered to 67 couples who volunteered. Twenty-eight persons (14 couples) with the lowest test scores were randomized into study and control groups. At the end of the program (post-test), the scale was again administered to the study group. Afterward, the pretest and post-test scores of the study and control groups were compared. The study group's pretest, post-test, and follow-up test scores were also examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No difference in marital adjustment was found between the study and control groups before the start of the program (P > .05). The post-test scores of the couples attending the Couple Communication Program proved to be higher in total than the scores of those who did not attend (P < .001). The post-test and follow-up scores of the study group were significantly higher than their pretest scores (P < .001). There was no significant difference between the post-test and follow-up scores of the study group (P = 1.0).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This program may have a positive effect on marital adjustment levels by improving communication skills and may lead to long-term behavioral modifications in couples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Kurupelit/Samsun, Turkey. myalcin@omu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Bektas Murat
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Yalcin
authors.forename: Tevfik Fikret
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Karahan
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018454:Spouses; D014421:Turkey