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The willingness of spouses to seek marriage and family counseling services

Journal of Primary Prevention volume 11, pages 277–293 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

Drawing upon a probability sample of 928 military couples (1,856 spouses), three clusters of variables were identified from a review of the help-seeking literature and examined for their contribution to explaining variation in the likelihood of husbands and wives seeking marriage and family counseling services given a marital or family problem: (a) demographic, (b) program-related, and (c) informal help-seeking orientation. Three of the six independent variables that were included in the analysis emerged as significant predictors of the potential use of counseling services by both husbands and wives: knowledge and prior use of services, years of formal education, and willingness to consult parents and other relatives given a major personal or family problem. Interpretations of the findings are offered for consideration, and recommendations are presented both for expanding clinical outreach efforts and for guiding further research.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 223 E. Franklin Street, CB#3550, 27599-3550, Chapel Hill, NC

    Gary L. Bowen

Authors
  1. Gary L. Bowen
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  2. Jack M. Richman
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Additional information

The data for this study were collected under USAF Contracts F33600-70-C-0423 and F33600-70-81-R-0290. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Air Force.

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Bowen, G.L., Richman, J.M. The willingness of spouses to seek marriage and family counseling services. J Primary Prevent 11, 277–293 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01325165

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Key words

  • counseling
  • marriage
  • family
  • outreach