Use of Premarital Assessment Questionnaires by Clergy in Marriage Preparation

Clergy provide the majority of marriage preparation in the United States; however, little is known about the use of premarital assessments and their relationship to clergy effectiveness in providing premarital education. A nationwide survey investigated the use of premarital assessment questionnaires (PAQs), specifically Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding, and Study (FOCCUS), PREmarital Personal and Relationship Evaluation (PREPARE), and RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE), in marriage preparation provided by clergy. Three demographic variables positively predicted whether clergy use these instruments: the number of annual weddings performed, the number of continuing education opportunities related to marriage preparation, and the size of church membership. An ANOVA revealed that clergy who used a PAQ had significantly higher perceived effectiveness than clergy who did not use any premarital inventory. These findings suggest that training clergy to use premarital assessments can increase clergy's perception of marriage preparation effectiveness.