Infertility affects many individuals and couples. This article begins with a case study of a couple who have experienced infertility yet do not identify infertility as their presenting problem. Clients and counselors alike often overlook infertility. This article offers an overview of the biology of infertility and its psychological and…

Because marriage and family counselors need to examine all areas of a marital relationship, a study was undertaken to investigate several parts of a marital relationship using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI). Participants (N=495) who were engaged in conjoint marital counseling, completed the MSI, a self-reporting measure with 280…

Reviews outcome studies of marriage enrichment groups for both premarital and marital couples, examining determination of change, measurement tools, stability of changes, differential effectiveness, and types of participants. Emphasizes the impact varies with the audience for such programs. Describes the focus as primary prevention for couples…

Discusses contrasting conceptual paradigms describing the nature of intimate relationships. Relationships may be viewed in terms of a rational bargain or as an emotional bond. The implications of each paradigm for the process of marital therapy and the role of bonding and attachment in adult intimacy are prescribed. Implications for marital…

Assessed Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy at initial contact, after an eight-week waiting period, after eight therapy sessions, and at eight-week follow-up. Couples reported no significant changes on measures of dyadic adjustment, intimacy, target complaint reduction or goal attainment after the waiting period, but they reported significant…

Examined the relationship between commitment to one's marriage at the onset of therapy and changes during marital therapy in a sample of 42 couples. Results showed that wives' commitment level was significant, while results for men were less striking. Discusses the importance of commitment in marital research. (LLL)

Explores how global and political issues affect microsystems like the marital unit. A variety of interactional patterns emerged in the observation of 30 couples marital interactions during a prolonged stressful situation. Couples reporting a deterioration of their relationship had more disagreements regarding the meaning of a peace process and its…

A marital group intervention was developed to address communication, conflict, forgiveness, and reconciliation. This article reviews the history of marital group intervention and presents a description of an 8-week marital group intervention. Results indicated improvement in forgiveness skills, anger expression, and marital satisfaction at…

Examines cognitive strategies used in marital treatment. Describes major targets of cognitive marital assessment and treatment. Focuses on use of strategies with rural clients experiencing economic and psychological stress due to farm crisis. Describes selected techniques of behavioral marital therapy used as adjunct to cognitive marital therapy.…

Measured the current level of empirical research on religion in six leading marriage and family journals. Discusses reasons that might account for higher rates of research studies that consider religious variables. Articles tended to support the notion that greater religious involvement is associated with higher marital adjustment and…

While much research has focused on the processes of marital problem solving, the content of marital problem solving has received considerably less attention. This study examined the initial efforts to develop a method for assessing marital problem solving content. Married individuals (N=36) completed a demographic information sheet, the Dyadic…

Provides two-year follow-up data for a comparison between a complete behavioral marital therapy treatment package and two of its major components, behavior exchange and communication/problem-solving training for 34 couples. Statistically significant differences between the three treatments were not in evidence on any of the measures of marital…

Assessed the utility of the premarital inventory, PREPARE, in predicting marital success. Conducted a three-year follow-up study with couples (N=164) who took PREPARE during their engagement. Found that the PREPARE scores from three months before marriage could predict with 80-90% accuracy which couples were separated and divorced from those that…

Explores the marital happiness, state/trait anxiety, coping techniques, and types of support received for a national sample of men and women experiencing the infertility medical process. Suggests that counselors should be aware that medical treatment affects the distress level of the individual and couple and the types of coping used. Further…

Randomly assigned 79 couples seeking treatment for relationship distress to behavioral marital therapy, insight-oriented marital therapy or waiting list. Both therapies resulted in significant improvements in self-reports of global marital accord and, to lesser extent, in reduction of overall psychological distress and in enhancement of…