Past research suggests that commitment to one's marriage is a variable which should be a contributing factor to marital satisfaction and the process of marital therapy. To examine the predictive utility of commitment, the relationship between commitment to marriage at the onset of therapy and changes during therapy was examined for a sample of 42 couples. Results showed that, for women, pre-therapy commitment level was able to account for unique variances in marital satisfaction at intake and for changes in marital satisfaction occurring as a result of therapy. Communication ability was also predictive of marital satisfaction at intake. In addition, changes in communication ability from pre- to post-therapy were predictive of changes in marital satisfaction for women. Results for men were less significant. The findings demonstrate that commitment is an important variable in the prediction of marital satisfaction. (Author/JAC)