Abstract
This article reports a study examining the impact of online spiritual counseling (OSC) sessions in mitigating immigration stress and promoting better marital adjustment of South Asian young dual earner couples emigrating to the USA. The OSC was effective for intervention group couples as compared to the waitlist control group. Post-test immigration stress was lower for those with professional degrees and who had prior living experience in the USA. Marital adjustment scores were higher for Hindu and Sikh couples, with professional degrees, who had prior living experience in the USA, for whom the marriage was a personal choice, and who had no children. Intervention compliance in terms of attendance and self-practice mediated the association between socio-demographic predictors and outcomes. There was concordance in outcomes of the dyadic partners, immigration stress and marital adjustment scores of husbands and wives were interdependent and associated. Within family therapy, the effectiveness of the OSC sessions for immigrant couples is supported with modifications for certain subgroups. Refinements may include adding familiar spiritual tenets for Christian and Muslim couples, including aspects of dealing with acculturation for those with no prior emigration experience and partner adjustment for couples in arranged marriages, and simpler expectations from those with children.
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Pandya, S.P. Online Spiritual Counseling Mitigates Immigration Stress and Promotes Better Marital Adjustment of South Asian Young Dual-Earner Couples Who Emigrate to Western Countries. Contemp Fam Ther 43, 35–53 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-020-09547-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-020-09547-5