Premarital Counseling and Marital Stability among Couples in Kahawa West Ward Nairobi-Kenya

The rising number of marriage breakups has become a universal disastrous phenomenon in recent times. There is an increase of reported cases of domestic violence some resulting to serious injuries and deaths. Domestic violence is like a symptom of marriage instability that can be addressed by Premarital Counseling. There are various factors that destabilize marriage in the recent time, therefore this study purposed to investigate the relationship between premarital counseling and marriage stability among couples in Kahawa West ward Nairobi Kenya. The study was guided by four objectives, to examine forms of premarital counseling given to couples, to determine levels of marriage stability among couples, to examine the perception of Premarital counseling among couples and to establish strategies that enhance marriage stability among couples. Family development theory (FDT) and Gottman theory supported the study. The study used convergent parallel design. The target population was 738 registered marriages from 6 denominational churches and one service provider from each church. A sample size of 259 marriages and 6 purposive sampled service providers totaling to 265 was employed to provide data. Purposive sampling technique was used to select service providers and simple random technique used to select couples. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were used to analyze Quantitative data through SPSS version 2021.Findings from respondents indicated that Religious PMC was most preferred by couples. It was found that there was high level of marriage stability. Findings showed traces of variables that can cause instability such as rejection, dominance, dissolution, discontent and despair. Findings showed positive perception for PMC by couples. Finding showed strategies that can enhance stability in marriage such as mutual communication, General action, Ongoing Counseling and genetic counseling were established. Finding showed a positive significant relationship between premarital counseling and marriage stability. The study recommended Churches to advocate for PMC programs to sensitize future partners.