Research on the Treatment of Couple Distress

Summary & key facts

A ten-year review of research found that couple therapy helps about 70% of couples who get it. That success rate is about the same as therapy for individuals and clearly better than getting no therapy. The review also found that relationship problems are strongly linked to personal mental health issues like depression and anxiety, and that two approaches — integrative behavioral couples therapy and emotion-focused therapy — have especially promising evidence. Researchers are now studying which parts of couple therapy actually cause change and for whom it works best.

Key facts:

• About 70% of couples who receive couple therapy show positive change after treatment.
• The overall success rate for couple therapy is similar to the success rate seen in individual therapy.
• Couple therapy performs much better than control groups that did not get any treatment.
• Researchers have found a clear connection between couple problems and individual disorders such as depression and anxiety.
• The review highlights two well-supported treatments for couples: integrative behavioral couples therapy and emotion-focused therapy.
• Recent research is starting to identify 'moderators' and 'mediators' — in plain terms, who benefits most and which changes lead to improvement.
• A new line of research is trying to describe general principles of change that apply across different types of couple therapy.

Abstract

This article reviews the research on couple therapy over the last decade. The research shows that couple therapy positively impacts 70% of couples receiving treatment. The effectiveness rates of couple therapy are comparable to the effectiveness rates of individual therapies and vastly superior to control groups not receiving treatment. The relationship between couple distress and individual disorders such as depression and anxiety has become well established over the past decade. Research also indicates that couple therapy clearly has an important role in the treatment of many disorders. Findings over the decade have been especially promising for integrative behavioral couples therapy and emotion-focused therapy, which are two evidence-based treatments for couples. Research has also begun to identify moderators and mediators of change in couple therapy. Finally, a new and exciting line of research has focused on delineating the principles of change in couple therapy that transcends approach.

Topics

Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Marriage and Sexual Relationships Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Categories

Psychology Social Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Anxiety Clinical psychology Depression (economics) Distress Economics Family therapy Macroeconomics Medicine Psychiatry Psychology Psychotherapist

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Depression Anxiety or worry Feeling disconnected from others Sadness or low mood