The Effectiveness of EMOVERE: An Emotional Education Program for Young Couples.

Estefanía Mónaco,Usue De La Barrera,Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041677

Estefanía Mónaco, Usue De La Barrera + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041677

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Abstract

Our aim was to assess the effectiveness of EMOVERE, a psychoeducational and experiential program to increase emotion regulation in couples. Forty-four young couples (n = 88) aged between 18 and 36 years old participated in the study (53.4% women; M = 24.18; SD = 4.34). Twenty-two couples belonged to the experimental group (received the intervention) and 22 to the control group (received no intervention). The intervention program consisted of seven two-hour sessions over a month, in groups of four to five couples. The variables studied were sociodemographic characteristics, emotional intelligence (TMMS-24), emotional inter-regulation with the partner (SIERC), attachment (ECR-S) and satisfaction with the relationship (RAS). The proposed design was quasi-experimental, with two randomized groups (experimental and control group) and longitudinal data from two occasions. SPSS version 24.0 was used to perform analysis of variance (MANOVA and MANCOVA), multiple hierarchical regression and reliable change index. PROCESS was also used for moderation analyses. The results indicate that the program is effective in increasing emotional self-regulation and emotion regulation with the partner, as well as reducing couples’ avoidance of intimacy. Age, relationship duration and previous relationship satisfaction moderate the effectiveness of the program. The importance of continuing this research line to address well-being of young populations is discussed.

Highlights

IntroductionA couple relationship can be defined as a relatively stable sentimental bond between two people who share emotional and intellectual intimacy, establish a commitment by planning shared projects and define a joint identity as a couple, making it visible to others [1]
We propose three hypotheses: (1) the intervention will be effective in developing emotional competences in partners; (2) the program will reduce avoidance of intimacy and attachment anxiety associated with insecure attachment styles; and (3) the demographic variables as well as the relationship variables will moderate the effectiveness of the intervention
The results of the analysis of multivariate variance (MANOVA) indicate that there are no previous differences between the control group and the experimental group in any of the variables before the intervention (Wilks’ lambda; λ = 0.93; F = 0.49; p = 0.907)

Summary

Introduction

A couple relationship can be defined as a relatively stable sentimental bond between two people who share emotional and intellectual intimacy, establish a commitment by planning shared projects and define a joint identity as a couple, making it visible to others [1]. People’s assessment of satisfaction with their sentimental relationship has a strong influence on their well-being [4], their quality of life [1], their happiness [5] and their overall health [6]. There is a social need to educate young people on how to establish healthy and violence-free relationships [7]

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