The Influence of Christian Pre-Marital Counselling on Extramarital Affairs

The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of Christian pre-marital counselling in mitigating exteramarital affairs in Bondeni Sub-location, Nakuru County- Kenya. Nakuru County is ranked among the top ten counties where extramarital affairs is potentially rife, as implied by the relatively high HIV prevalence. The study was anchored on Cognitive Behaviour Theory. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The study was based on a purposive sample of 310 married members from six Churches that run pre-marital counseling programmes. Data was collected through questionnaires and interview guide. The data was analyzed using Chi Square and Spearman’s Rank Correlation tests at 0.05 significance level. The results revealed that incidences of extramarital affairs were significantly higher among respondents who did not attend pre-marital counseling before getting married than among respondents who attended pre-marital counseling. The results affirmed that through pre-marital counselling programmes, the Church was able to mitigate extramarital affairs in society. Therefore, the Church need to give greater prominence to comprehensive pre-marital counselling for couples intending to get married.