Psychology

A Randomized controlled trial of the marriage checkup adapted for private practice

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of the Marriage Checkup (MC), adapted for independent practice. Method: A total of 233 couples were recruited from 2 metropolitan areas of Denmark and randomized to the MC adapted for independent practice (MC-P, n=116) or a waitlist condition (WL, n= 117). Self-report measures of relationship health were obtained online at 3 (WL) or 6 (MC-P) time points across 54 weeks. MC-P couples received 2 checkups (Week 7 and 51). WL couples received tickets to a movie night (Week 10). Data were analyzed using multilevel growth models. Results: Following the first checkup, small intervention effects were found on 3 of 4 outcome measures. Between the checkups, the effects on 2 of 3 measures first leveled off then reappeared. Following the second checkup, intervention effects in the small to medium range were found on all 4 measures including the Brief Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Cohen's d=0.48), the Couple Satisfaction Index (d= 0.20), the Responsiveness and Attention Scale (d =0.43), and the Intimate Safety Questionnaire (d =0.21). Conclusions: Couples receiving 2 annual checkups across 54 weeks experienced small to medium effects on relationship health when compared to controls. These are the first and preliminary results on a model for conducting regular relationship health checkups in a real-world therapeutic setting. Future studies are needed to investigate the comparative and long-term effects of this approach.

Publication Title

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Publication Date

2016

Volume

84

Issue

12

First Page

1145

Last Page

1152

ISSN

0022-006X

DOI

10.1037/ccp0000141

Keywords

brief intervention, couples, feedback, marriage checkup, relationship satisfaction

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