University to study impact of prayer on couples
Do couples that pray together really stay together?
Researchers at the University of Georgia will examine the effects of prayer on marital relationships in a three-year study set to begin this fall.The $1.1 million study will involve 500 black couples from rural northeast Georgia, between the ages of 21 and 45, who are either married or have set a wedding date.
“Couples want to do right by each other. But they get pulled off track by lots of things,” said Dr. Steven Beach, director of the Institute for Behavioral Research at the Athens university.
By helping couples use relationship skills and demonstrate good intentions for each other, prayer could help keep relationships healthy, Beach hypothesizes.
Marriage in the black community has been traditionally understudied, Beach said. The Center for Family Research, a part of Beach’s institute that studies black families, inspired the study with its findings that “religiosity is protective” in the black community.
Separated into three groups, the couples will participate in a relationship workshop program. The first group will work through the program on their own, the second will take direction from a trained leader, and the third will be directed by a leader but will also incorporate a series of prayers into the program.
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Filed under: Marriage and Family, Perspectives
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