Publication year
2015
Citation Title
iRelate: A comprehensive approach empowering young marines to succeed at intimate relationships.
Journal Name
Contemporary Family Therapy
Journal Volume
37
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
247-260
DOI
10.1007/s10591-015-9333-y
Summary
Marines tend to marry younger than civilians, and there is some evidence that they are underprepared for the demands of marriage, as indicated by the high divorce rates among young Marines. iRelate is a three-stage intimate relationship education program for young Marines in various stages of partnering: dating, engagement, and early marriage. Initial evaluation results indicate that iRelate has a high level of acceptability for young Marines, and may help them enter marriage with a more realistic understanding of its challenges.
Key Findings
Many young Marines have an overly idealistic perception of the demands of marriage: nearly a third report that they are equipped for marriage because they are a Marine, and 8% expect that marriage will be effortless and make them happy all the time.
Young Marines who are divorcing recognize their pre-marital idealism as a problem: 40% report that they were too young to get married, and nearly half (47%) say they should have taken more time to get to know their spouse before getting married.
Marines reported they were both more prepared for marriage and more confident about their ability to handle potential difficult times in marriage after receiving the iRelate training.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide education to young Service members about both the rewards and challenges of marriage
Ensure young Service members have opportunities to seek personal development across all stages of relationship initiation and dissolution: pre-coupling, pre-marital, marital enrichment, and in divorce
Train professionals to recognize Service members who have overly optimistic perceptions of marriage and refer them to appropriate support or programming
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to invest in relationship skill-building programs for Service members and their partners
Use public awareness campaigns to educate Service members about the complexities of military marriages early in their service
Recommend integrating basic intimate relationship skill building into existing service-delivery systems for young recruits
Methods
Three successive studies were conducted: a needs assessment and brief evaluations of the first two phases of the iRelate program.
Participants for all studies were recruited by Navy chaplains at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. All data were collected anonymously through online surveys.
Statistical analyses were used to conduct pre- and post-comparisons of the data.
Participants
The needs assessment included 105 engaged and 70 divorcing Marines, about a quarter of whom were female, while the two evaluation studies included 211 Marines and 57 engaged Marines, respectively.
All participants were E5 rank and below.
No other demographic data was collected.
Limitations
The data for all three studies were collected anonymously from the same Marine bases, so it is unclear whether the participants in the three studies might have been measured in more than one study.
No demographic data was collected which limits the authors’ ability to appropriately describe the sample and limits the generalizability of the sample.
No control group was utilized, therefore, it is unknown to what degree pre-post perceptions would have changed if no intervention had been provided.
Avenues for Future Research
Investigate the first and second stages of the program with larger samples that do not utilize the same participants as the third stage
Evaluate the efficacy of programs to increase the strength of Service members' significant relationships
Explore whether the program is effective for Marines who have been married longer and for Service members in other branches of the military
Focus
Marines
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
As a result of the high rate at which young Marines are getting married and divorced, a group of Navy chaplains created a new comprehensive three stage intervention program entitled, Intimate Relationships Awareness, Training, and Enrichment program (iRelate) to address the various relationship needs of the single, engaged, and married Marines. This article presents preliminary program evaluation data for Stage I and Stage II of the iRelate program, with additional data from Marines that are engaged to be married and Marines that were in the process of getting divorced. Results showed, prior to attending Stage I and Stage II of the program, Marines presented with high levels of marriage idealism and overconfidence. Twenty-nine percent stated, because they are Marines, they are capable of taking on adult responsibilities and 32.4 % believed that marriage would require some effort. Of the Marines that were in the process of getting divorced, 40 % indicated that they were too young to be married, 50 % stated if they could do it over again they would have taken more time to get to know their spouse prior to getting married. The post course data indicated that the Marines’ level of idealism and overconfidence decreased, as 63.2 % of the Marines developed a more realistic expectation of marriage, by realizing that marriage will require a lot of hard work. Additionally, Marines felt more prepared for their marriage [t (177) = 7.62, p < 0.001, r2 = 0.25] suggesting that the program offers a significant benefit to the Marines.
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