CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILL TRAINING ON PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE AMONG SPOUSES OF CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN ABIA AND IMO STATES

Abstract

Couple relationships are described as having an intimate nature that is defined by close interdependence, continuous interaction, and reciprocally reinforcing strong feelings. Most of the married spouses in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Pentecostal churches have serious conflicts in spite of regular church going and prayers for harmony and love. The current study therefore examined the effectiveness of conflict resolution skill training on peaceful coexistence among the spouses of the Catholic Churches in Abia and Imo State. Quasiexperimental design was used. Conflict Resolution Skill Questionnaire (CRSQ) was used to collect responses from the participants. 46 spouses (23 men, 23 women) received six weeks of structured CRST. Outcomes were measured with the Marital Peaceful Coexistence Questionnaire (MPCQ, α = 0.72) at pre-test, post-test, and four-week follow-up. The tool was pilot tested among 20 SPOUSES, and Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.79 was utilized to test the results. To answer the research question, means and standard deviation descriptive statistics were employed to provide data analysis and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) utilized to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Results showed improved peaceful coexistence (pre-test M = 2.10; post-test M = 3.42) and willingness for conflict resolution in the experimental group (pre-test M = 2.05; post-test M = 3.50), and the effects were still sustained during the follow-up period (M = 3.35 and 3.40, respectively). ANCOVA confirmed statistically significant group differences (post-test F(1,43) = 37.59, p < 0.001, η² = 0.46), whereas the control condition showed no substantive change (M ≈ 2.10–2.15). It is concluded that CRST significantly improves marital harmony and recommends inclusion of it in premarital counselling programmemes. Recommendations are institutionalizing CRST in religious organizations, government-funded community workshops, and culturally adapted expansions for diverse populations