Kimani Jacinta Wanjiku2024-08-142024-08-142024-08-14https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/handle/123456789/4471An individual’s experience in early childhood has far-reaching implications on the life outcomes in later adulthood, including marital life. This study focused on parental heritage and its impact on the development process of offspring’s marital stability. Specifically, the study aimed at: assessing the effect of the parent-child relationship on offspring’s marital stability; examining the effect of parents’ values on marital stability; assessing the effects of the relationship quality of parents on marital stability and establishing the intervening role of Pre-Marital Counselling (PMC) on the relationship between parental heritage, marital stability commitment and the bonding of married individuals for marital stability. These dimensions include: the parent-child relationship, parents’ relationship quality and parent’s value while assessing the intervening aspect of the Pre-Marital Counseling-PMC programs. The study was carried out among the married individuals in Deliverance Churches International-Kenya (DCI-K), Kasarani Sub-county - Nairobi-Kenya. Attachment theory was applied to explain the nexus between parental heritage and marital stability. The research took a post-positivist lens and the descriptive research design where concurrent mixed method was used in data collection. The target population was 10% of married congregants’ population of the 22 local church assemblies in Kasarani Sub- County. A total of 340 respondents were selected through stratified sampling method. Data was collected using questionnaire and key informant interview guide and analyzed using descriptive statistics in (SPSS 28.0) version and synthesis of thematic areas from qualitative data. The study revealed that parent-child relationship discreetly impacts marital stability, evidenced by a Pearson correlation of 0.154 and a significance level of 0.006. Additionally, a strong positive correlation of 0.7 between parents' values and marital stability was detected, with a noteworthy p-value of 0.001 which indicated a significant influence of parental values. The quality of parents' relationship also showed a moderately strong correlation with marital stability, marked by a coefficient of 0.583 and a p-value of 0.001, underscoring the role of parental relationship quality. Furthermore, qualitative data highlighted that PMC’s critical role in bolstering marital stability by intervening on the effects of parental heritage, particularly through readiness for marital challenges, conflict resolution skills, and as a foundational factor for emotional connection and self-awareness. The study findings inform the development and enrichment of the parental, marital, and pre-marital programs in churches, institutions, and in therapy practice to strengthen families and marriages.enThesis