Use of intentional prayer to influence Christian married couples' perception of their relationship PDF
Preview Use of intentional prayer to influence Christian married couples' perception of their relationship
THEUSEOFINTENTIONALPRAYERTOINFLUENCECHRISTIANMARRIED COUPLES'PERCEPTIONOFTHEIRRELATIONSHIP. By KENNETHLEESMYLIE ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2003 Copyright2003 by KennethLeeSmylie ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IwishtoexpressmyappreciationtoDr.M.HarryDanielsforchairingmy committeeandguidingmeinthewritingprocessofthiswrittenwork. Ialsowishto thankDr.DavidMiller,Dr.SilviaDoan,andDr.WoodrowM.Parkerforservingonmy committee. Iamgratefultomywonderfulchildren,mysonScottandhiswifeNicholeandmy daughterTiffany,whohaveencouragedmeonthisjourney. IthankmyfaithfulwifeMarkiforhercontinuedencouragementandemotional supportincompletingthisproject. Finally,IthankmygoodfriendJesusforhiscontinuedkindnesstomeandspecial helpinthisendeavor. in TABLEOFCONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS "i LISTOFTABLES vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Overview 1 StatementoftheProblem 7 PurposeoftheStudy 8 TheoreticalBasisoftheStudy 9 Significance 14 ResearchQuestions 15 LimitationsoftheStudy 17 Definitions 17 2 REVIEWOFRELATEDLITERATURE 19 InvestigationsofSpirituality,PrayerandWeil-Being 19 PhysicalWell-Being 20 PsychologicalWell-Being 24 CoupleCommunication 30 SpiritualMaturityandSpiritualWell-Being 39 Summary 44 3 METHODOLOGY 46 DependentVariables 46 IndependentVariables 48 Participants 49 ExperimentalDesign 50 Procedures 51 TreatmentProcedures 51 MeasurementProcedures 54 iv 1 ExperiencesinCloseRelationshipInventory 60 ReligiousMaturityScale 62 SpiritualMaturityIndex 65 SpiritualWell-BeingScale 67 HelpfulnessofPrayerScale 69 ResearchQuestions 70 DataAnalyses 71 4 DATAANALYSESANDRESULTS 73 DescriptionofSample 73 DescriptionofData 75 ResearchQuestions 76 Summary 86 5 DISCUSSION 87 SummaryoftheStudy 87 Results 89 Conclusions 92 ImplicationsforFutureResearch 93 LimitationsofthisStudy 94 APPENDIX A INVITATION 96 B DESCRIPTIONOFTHESTUDY 98 C INFORMEDCONSENTFORM 100 D INSTITUTIONALREVIEWBOARDAPPROVALFORM 103 E FREEFORMPRAYEROUTLINE 104 F MODELPRAYERFORM 105 G TRACKINGFORM 107 H FAMILYASSESSMENTMEASURE 108 I FAMSUBSCALES 110 J DEMOGRAPHICINFORMATION 11 K SPIRITUALMATURITYINDEX 112 v L EXPERIENCESINCLOSERELATIONSHIPINVENTORY 114 M SPIRITUALWELL-BEINGSCALE 116 N RELIGIOUSMATURITYSCALE 117 O HELPFULNESSOFPRAYERSCALE 118 P SUMMARYTABLEFORMEANSANDSTARDARDDEVIATIONS 120 Q RELIABILITYESTIMATES 121 LISTOFREFERENCES 122 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 133 VI 1 LISTOFTABLES Table Eage 1 Comparisonofyearsmarried 74 2 Comparisonofnumberofchildrenpercouple 75 3 Comparisonofnumberofchildreninhomepercouple 75 4 SummarytablefortheresultsofthePearsonCorrelations 76 5 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforinterpersonalcommunication....78 6 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforaffectiveexpression 79 7 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforaffectiveinvolvement 80 8 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforavoidance 82 9 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforanxiety 83 10 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforreligiouswell-being 84 1 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforexistentialwell-being 85 12 SummarytablefortheresultsofANCOVAforhelpfulnessofprayerscale 86 vn AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy THEUSEOFINTENTIONALPRAYER TOINFLUENCECHRISTIANMARRIEDCOUPLES'PERCEPTION OFTHEIRRELATIONSHIP By KennethLeeSmylie August,2003 Chair:M.HarryDaniels MajorDepartment: CounselorEducation Thepurposeofthisstudywastoinvestigateprayerasatherapeutictoolthat counselorsmayuseinservingtheirclients. Specifically,thisstudyexaminedwhether prayerimprovesChristianmarriedcouples'perceptionofthequalityoftheirrelationship. Thecriticalquestionsaddressedinthisinvestigationwerethefollowing:Whencouples praytogether,istheirperceptionofthequalityoftheirmaritalrelationshipmodifiedand how?Relatedtothisquestionweretwoparallelquestions.First,doescouples'levelof spiritualmaturitydifferentiallymediatethebenefitsofprayingtogether?Second,are therespecificcharacteristicsamongcoupleswhosemaritalrelationshipimprovesasa resultoftheinterventionandthosewhodonot. ChristianmarriedcouplesfromfifteenchurchesinnorthcentralFlorida participatedinthisstudy.Inall,fifty-onecouplesparticipatedinthestudy(102 individuals),andwererandomlyassignedtoeithertheexperimentalorcontrolcondition. Vlll Thereweretwenty-fivecouplesintheexperimentalgroupandtwenty-sixcouplesinthe controlgroup.ChangeintheperceivedqualityofChristianmarriedcouples'relationship wasassessedbypublishedmeasuresofinterpersonalcommunication,affective expression,affectiveinvolvement,avoidanceofemotionalintimacy,anxietyinemotional closeness,religiouswell-beingandexistentialwell-being.Theexperimentaldesignfor thisstudywasapretest-posttestcontrolgroupdesignwithrepeatedmeasuresandrandom assignment. Theanalysisofthedatayieldedmixedresults.Specifically,nosignificant differencesformainorinteractioneffectswereobservedforinterpersonal communication,affectiveexpression,affectiveinvolvement,anxietyaboutemotional closenessandreligiouswell-being. Incontrast,significantfindingswereobserved betweenthecovariateofspiritualmaturityandthedependentvariableofexistentialwell- being,andthecovariateofthenumberofchildrenathomeandthedependentvariableof avoidanceofemotionalintimacy. IX CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Overview Conflictinmarriageisinevitable.Giventhedifferencesinherentinbeingmale andfemale,incomingfromdifferentfamilybackgrounds,expressingculturaldifferences andreligiousdifferencesitisnotsurprisingthatmarriedcoupleshaveconflicts. Within thecontextoftheirmarriagecouplesstruggletofindwaystodealbothwiththe differencesandtheconflicts,includingworkingwithmarriageandfamilycounselors. Marriageandfamilycounselorsuseavarietyoftherapeuticstrategiestohelpcouples addressandresolveconflict.Traditionally,marriageandfamilycounselorshave employedarationalperspectiveastheprimarylensforviewingandunderstanding relationshipsinconflict.Asaresult,mostinterventionstrategieshavebeenprimarily empiricalinperspective. Researchersinthehelpingprofessionhavehistoricallychosennottoexplorethe realmofhumanspirituality(Bergin,1992;Ellison&Smith,1991;Finney&Malony, 1985;Griffith,1986;Poloma&Pendleton,1991;Sirch-Stasko,1996).Spirituality,as usedinthepresentstudy,isthetranscendentalrelationshipbetweenapersonanda HigherBeing(Richards&Bergin,1997).Differentreasonsforthispracticehavebeen proposed. Moberg(1971)pointstoapracticalconcernoverchurch-stateseparationin institutionsreceivingfederalfunds.Targ(1999)andothers(Finney&Malony,1985; McBride,Arthur,Brooks&Pilkington,1998)assertthereasonisthehistoricriftbetween 1
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