Educational Program Status of Premarital Counseling Centers in Hamadan Province Based on Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

Background & Objective: Divorce, unwanted pregnancies, and unsuccessful marriages create mental, emotional, physical, and financial problems for individuals, families, and ultimately the community. Premarital education and counseling is one of the most effective ways for the prevention of such problems. The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of a premarital educational program by using the TRA (Theory of Reasoned Action). Materials and Methods: Four hundred couples who attended premarital education and counseling classes voluntarily participated in this descriptive and analytical study. Variables such as attitude, subjective norms, and intention, were collected by using a validated questionnaire based on the TRA components. The questionnaire was filled out before and after the educational classes. Results: The mean age of the couples was 23.16 ± 5.64 years old. Statistically significant differences were found in knowledge, attitude, and subjective norms before and after participation in the classes (p value < 0.001). However, in terms of the couples’ intention of following the recommendations, no statistically significant difference was observed between the values before and after the classes (p value > 0.05). Conclusion: Although the mean knowledge and attitude of the couples under study increased after the classes, the increase was not high and only 20% of the couples gained acceptable knowledge. The effectiveness of such classes in the current manner is very low. Application of appropriate educational methods and media-based models and theories is highly recommended.