Abstract:
In this age of urbanization, conflicts among newly married couples can crop up if they had not been well prepared for
marriage through effective premarital counseling. The purpose1of this study was to assess the influence of
communication1skills on marital1stability among newly married couples in the sub-county. The research was informed
by the solution focused theory and the sound relationship house theory. The target population was 476 newly married
couples in the sub-county and the 4 premarital counselors in the sub-county. The researcher targeted a population 480
respondents who were selected through census survey. The instruments used in the collection of data included a
structured questionnaire for the newly married couples and face interviews for the marriage counselors. Pilot testing
was done with 48 questionnaires given newly married couples of neighboring Starehe sub-county to ascertain the
validity and1reliability of the1instruments. The study used a test-retest reliability method to test for reliability where a
thresh hold of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of at least 0.7 was acceptable. The dependability and credibility were
ascertained by ensuring that the data is collected from a population of respondents who are knowledgeable about
premarital counseling. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis where certain words, concepts and themes
were identified. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive1statistics and inferential1statistics
including1correlation analysis and were presented using tables. The study found that communication skills have a
positive and significant effects on marital stability among newly married couples in Kamukunji1sub-county,
Nairobi1County. Premarital counselling enables partners to communicate honestly with their spouses.
