In 50s and Married for the First Time: Examining the Effectiveness of Spirituality App and Relationship Counseling App in Improving Marital Satisfaction and Dyadic Adjustment of Very Late First-Marriage Couples

Abstract

Marriage timing has an important association with marital satisfaction and dyadic adjustment and very delayed first marriages are a small but significant subset. This article reports a study on the impact of a mobile phone-based spirituality app as compared to a relationship counseling app on couples who have entered marriages for the first time in their 50 s. Spirituality app users reported improvements in marital satisfaction and dyadic adjustment (Hedges’s g = 0.99–1.98, p < .01). Post-test gains were higher for dyads who had postgraduate/doctoral degrees or professional qualifications, who had entered the marriage out of choice, Hindus and Christians, and whose intervention compliance was higher (>60%). Multivariate analysis further suggested that Christian wives reported significant gains, however, this was not so for Christian husbands. Actor-partner interdependence models indicated a significant interdependence and association between outcome scores of husbands and wives. With an adequate emphasis on intervention compliance, the spirituality app would be effective with some modifications for those who enter the alliance enforced by circumstances, Muslim and Sikh participants, and the less formally qualified.

Keywords:

• app-based intervention
• delayed first marriages
• dyadic adjustment
• first marriage in 50s
• marital satisfaction
• relationship counseling
• spirituality