Marital Disharmony: Causes and resolution strategies in Enugu State of Nigeria

This study investigated the causes of marital disharmony and resolution strategies for resolving marital disharmony among couples in Enugu State. Two research questions and one hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey design was used. The sample for this study comprises 300 (150 literate and 150 non-literate) couples drawn through multi-stage random sampling from a population of 646,311 married people. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The research questions were analyzed using mean scores and hypothesis tested with t-test statistics. The findings revealed among others, infertility, lack of trust, sexual deprivation, early marriage, finance, communication gap, infidelity as the causes of marital disharmony. Avoiding the idle mind by engaging in hard work, use of family counsellors, listening carefully to spouse, developing a positive attitude towards disharmony, communicating feelings of love, admiration, likes and dislikes, are resolution strategies for resolving marital disharmony. However, there is no significant difference in the perception of literate and non-literate couples about the extent of the use of resolution strategies in resolving marital disharmony. Based on the findings, recommendations were made. Key words: Marital disharmony, causes, resolution strategies, literacy

Resolution Strategies Adopted in Resolving Marital Disharmony among Couples in Enugu State

This study investigated the resolution strategies adopted in resolving marital disharmony among couples to help in empowering families for sustainable healthy lifestyles in Enugu state. Two research questions and one hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey design was used. The sample for this study comprises 300 (150 literate and 150 non-literate) couples drawn through simple random sampling technique from a population of 643, 311. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The research questions were analyzed using means while the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test. The findings revealed among others, that avoiding the idle mind by engaging in work, use of family counselors, listening carefully and speaking tactfully to spouse, developing a positive and healthy attitude towards disharmony, communicating feelings of love, admiration, likes and dislikes to each other help in resolving marital disharmony among couples and empowering families for sustainable healthy lifestyles in Enugu state. However, there is no significant difference in the perception of literate and non-literate couples about the resolution strategies adopted in resolving marital disharmony. Based on the findings, recommendations were made. Keywords: marital disharmony, resolution strategies, literacy, couples