Influence of Family Life Knowledge on Marriages in Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

A satisfactory marriage is desirable but studies indicate that many people are dissatisfied in their marriages as reflected by broken families, single parent homes, violence in marriages and widespread misery in families. Various studies have given attention to marital satisfaction and they have found that couples with high levels of marital satisfaction have higher levels of life satisfaction in general. Despite the attention that has been given marital satisfaction, there is prevalence in divorces and separations in Meru County as reflected in the 2009 population census. Studies indicate that more young people are experiencing instability in marriages than old people. There is limited information on why there are differences in marital satisfaction between the older and younger generations. Studies have established a link between Family Life Knowledge and marital satisfaction but little has been done on the influence of family life education on marital satisfaction. The objective of this study was to establish; the levels of marital satisfaction, the influence of content of Family Life Knowledge on marital satisfaction, differences in influence of sources of knowledge on family life on marital satisfaction and differences in the influence of age of delivery of Family Life Knowledge on marital satisfaction. The study adopted a mixed method research design. The target population of the study was 474,263 married people in Meru County from whom a sample of 384 respondents was drawn using multi-stage sampling. Data was collected from repondents using questionnaires, interviews schedules and Focus Group Discussions. The validity instruments were checked by faculty members and other experts in Psychology. The reliability of the instruments was done using split-half method. A reliability co-efficient of 0.89 was obtained indicating that the instrument was reliable. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science for both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics included percentages and medians while inferential statistics include t-tests, ANOVA and Chi-square. Qualitative data was thematically analysed. There were statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) in marital satisfaction among married. This was attributed to differences in the content among the age groups with the three older age groups having a curriculum on family life education, while the youngest age groups did not have a curriculum. There were significant differences (p < 0.001) in the influence of sources of Family Life Knowledge on marital satisfaction. Peers, school teachers, parents and sponsors at initiation were the most influential sources of Family Life Knowledge. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) were observed with respect to age of delivery of knowledge of family life among married people. Most of the married people in Meru County got Family Life Knowledge at the age of 11-20 years. It was also observed that there were statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) in the influence of age of delivery of Family Life Knowledge on marital satisfaction. The information obtained from this study is expected to benefit counseling psychologist, sexologists, family therapists, sex therapists, parents, married couples, religious leaders and educationists. The information from this study is also expected to guide policy formulators in formulating a family life education curriculum for schools that is tailored towards marital satisfaction.