Scot M. Allgood

Marital Commitment and Religiosity in a Religiously Homogenous Population

Statewide surveys of marriage and divorce in Oklahoma and Utah point to the need to better understand the importance of commitment to marriage in a religiously homogenous population. The components of commitment—to their spouse, to marriage as an institution, and constraints to stay in the relationship—were explored in relation to religious values and attendance in an organized religion. Results indicate significant associations between these variables, with higher levels of values and attendance having a positive relationship with commitment to spouse and marriage. Constraint commitment was associated with lower religious values and attendance.

The Relationship Between Mandatory Divorce Education and Level of Post-Divorce Parental Conflict

Abstract This study assessed the association between conflict between divorced parents and their attendance or nonattendance at a divorce education program. A telephone interview was done with 160 individuals who participated in the education program and 59 individuals who did not. Both males and females in the nonattendance group had higher conflict scores than the attendance group. Attendance at the divorce education class was found to be associated with whether a subject will return to court or not. Those who attended were less likely to return to court related to the divorce.

Therapist interventions: do they really influence client resistance?

Abstract Client resistance is one of the focal points in most approaches to marital and family therapy. Many approaches conceptualize resistance as something to be reduced for therapy to be effective; however, the structural and strategic therapies are unique because they also conceptualize change as resulting from interventions that use resistance. The present study compared the amount of resistance that was engendered between interventions that use resistance and those that decrease resistance. The interventions that were designed to use resistance as well as defusing conflict both had statistically higher resistance ratios than the rest of the interventions.

Professional and Personal Experiences and Perceived Facilitator Effectiveness

This study analyzes the relationship between facilitator effectiveness ratings and several facilitator characteristics. Characteristics include professional and personal experiences as well as demographics. Participants attended Smart Steps, a relationship education course for stepfamilies, which was offered through community agencies. There were 858 participants with an overrepresentation of low-income and Latino participants. Facilitators who had specific training in Smart Steps and facilitators who had stepchildren of their own had higher effectiveness ratings. A regression model identified that both of these variables along with being female were significantly associated with higher effectiveness ratings as reported by the participants.