Attitudes Toward Seeking Couples Counseling among Egyptian Couples: Towards a Deeper Understanding of Common Marital Conflicts and Marital Satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with marital satisfaction and attitudes toward seeking couples counseling among affluent Egyptian couples. A total of 411 married participants answered an online survey. The most common conflicts reported by participants were time spent together and lack of communication. Results showed that higher agreement among couples was related to higher marital quality. Given the importance of religion to Egyptian culture, this study examined the relationship between religious marriage and marital satisfaction, which was found to be significant. With regards to other factors that predict higher marital quality, none of the socio-demographic factors were significant. This study also explored factors associated with attitudes toward seeking couples counseling. Females were more willing to seek couples counseling than males. Also, those with Master's degrees showed significant positive attitudes toward couples counseling. For the barriers to couples counseling, not knowing a good mental health practitioner was the most frequently selected barrier. Findings of this study may help in designing better couples counseling services for Egyptian couples.