Examines literature on marital therapy and spouse involvement as treatments for major psychopathology, focusing on depression, agoraphobia, and alcoholism. For each disorder, examines relation between marital dynamics and disorder and discusses empirical efforts to evaluate impact of marital therapy or spouse involvement on disorder. Summarizes…

Describes study comparing views of husbands and wives toward day-to-day communication practices. Initial data analysis yielded 24 items contributing to 7 factors. Wives tended to report less communication or rate communication lower than husbands, but both husbands and wives were generally satisfied with communication in marriages. (Author/CRR)

Discusses outcome and process research on couple therapy and integrates articles in journal's special section on couples and couples therapy into the discussion. Discussion of strengths and weaknesses of various designs concludes that within-model comparisons have been more productive in producing knowledge than between-model comparisons. Includes…

Defensive projection is discussed as a mechanism important in understanding interpersonal relations. Projections are seen as an important source of both misperception of spouse and reduced self-awareness, leading to resentment and a rigid marital system. In conjoint marriage counseling, the counselor may intervene to correct perceptual distortion.…

Couples therapy interventions can be used with alcohol abusers and alcoholics during three broadly defined states of recovery: (1) initial commitment to change; (2) change itself; and (3) long-term maintenance of change. Intervening with the alcoholic's spouse (and/or other nonalcoholic family members) can motivate and reinforce commitment to…

Presents research findings that marriage enrichment participants are neither as satisfied with their marriages as nonparticipants nor as dissatisified as those couples who request marriage counseling. Compared pretreatment levels of marital satisfaction of enrichment participants with published norms and the scores of control couples. (Author/RC)

This literature review examined the relationship between depression and marital interaction patterns in marriages where one spouse is depressed. The social exchange process between the depressed individual and the spouse is dysfunctional in comparison to the processes in non-depressed couples and may be responsible for the maintenance of…

Presents a form of insight therapy based upon systems theory and suggests that this has much to offer in marital therapy. Categories of relationship problems with which a couples therapist must deal are described. (Author)

Discussed methodological errors in child and marital treatment research. Made suggestions to avoid such errors. Areas covered are selection of subjects and therapists, scope and source of dependent measures, treatment specification and experimental design. Errors include unsubstantiated diagnoses; client labels; restricted outcome criteria; and…

Discusses the unique characteristics of dual-career marriages/families. These familial units are identified as a high stress group presenting unusual challenges to the clinician. Specific implications for the clinician include: (1) values of therapist and clients; (2) critical issues; and (3) assets and liabilities. (Author)

Marriages of respondents that ended in divorce were not as good as marriages of other couples they had known nor did the marriage meet expectations held prior to entering into the relationship. The most frequent problem was unfaithfulness. (Author)

Suggests that, for some research, interviewing spouses together leads to data being generated that could not be obtained from individual interviews. Interaction of the spouses promotes a fuller presentation of the matter under discussion. This interaction is observed directly and thus can be used as data. (Author/BEF)

Empirical research on behavioral marital therapy (BMT) was reviewed and it was concluded that BMT, with its emphasis on working on a strictly behavioral level with married couples, was an effective form of therapy. Six component analysis studies were then examined which showed a general trend in the studies indicating that strictly behavioral…

Reviews 19 research studies on the Minnesota Couple Communication Program (CCP) which indicates an immediate positive effect on communication behavior and relationship satisfaction. Found CCP does not alter reported levels of self-disclosure or self-esteem. Positive changes persisted in some studies, but evidence of the durability of effects is…

Choice Awareness is a cognitive-affective-behavioral system that goes beyond both communication training and behavioral bartering approaches to marriage enrichment. Couples explore thoughts, feelings, and actions in their relationships and develop personal power in making choices and in taking responsibility for their own lives. (Author)