Journal of marital and family therapy最新文献

Multifamily therapy (MFT) is a psychotherapeutic group intervention for patients with severe mental disorders (SMDs) and their families. The present study is a multicenter, randomized, and controlled trial that analyzes the benefit of MFT during outpatient treatment. The recruited patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 26), which received 24 MFT sessions in addition to their treatment as usual (TAU), or to the control group (n = 29), which received only TAU (individual and family sessions). Six months after the inclusion in the MFT, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in number of visits to the psychiatric emergency services, number of psychiatric admissions, and the days of admission. The need for hospital care 6 months after recruitment was also lower in the experimental group compared to the control group. These results suggest that the implementation of MFT during outpatient treatment facilitates community management of people diagnosed with mental health problems.

The philosophical framework of strong relationality has gained greater attention in scholarship and yet empirically testing models built on this important framework are rare. The present study tests predictions made by the Strong Relationality Model of Relationship Flourishing (SRM), which centers on the role of Ethical Responsiveness for relationship health. In doing so, we introduce common fate modeling as a methodological approach for strong relationality research. We used longitudinal data from 1512 couples collected as part of the German longitudinal panel study of families. Results support the Strong Relationality Model's prediction that Ethical Responsiveness (as measured by perceived partner support) positively alters the impact of stress on Gratitude-Recognition (elements of the Responsible Action domain of the SRM), which then increases couples' intimacy (an element of the Relational-Connectivity domain of the SRM). Recommendations for clinical assessment and intervention are given as well as recommendations for future research on the Strong Relationality Model.

The current study investigated changes in couple, parenting, and individual functioning following participation in Family Expectations, a relationship and parenting education program for new or expectant parents. The sample comprised 339 couples who participated in most sessions of the Family Expectations program and completed assessments at three different time points over a 12-month period. Study analyses examined: (a) change shortly following completion of the program, (b) associations between short-term change and subsequent change in outcomes at 12-month follow-up, and (c) differences in short-term change between married and unmarried couples. Significant improvements were observed in all three domains at short-term follow-up. Short-term changes, particularly for psychological distress, were predictive of long-term change in multiple domains. Few moderation effects by marital status were evident; those that appeared suggested stronger effects for married participants compared to unmarried. Study findings inform ongoing discussions into the utility of federally-funded relationship and parenting programming.

This study examined maintenance and booster effects of a brief couple intervention, the Marriage Checkup (MC), across 5 years. A subsample of 63 couples who benefitted from two previous MCs (responder couples), were randomly assigned to a third MC or control. Before randomization (at 4-years-9-months), the responder sample had maintained small to medium effects on two measures of relationship functioning. After randomization, we found no significant between-group effects. Yet, within-group analyses revealed that while control couples showed flat trajectories in all outcomes after the 4-year-9-months baseline, couples receiving a third MC (at Year 5) reported small to medium improvements in three measures of relationship functioning and maintained follow-up effect in one measure. Findings indicate that couples who initially improved from the MC can maintain some of their improvements over long periods. The potential of boosting such improvements with recurrent MCs is a relevant target for further investigation in larger samples.

The Rejection Sensitive Expectation, Perception, and Reaction Questionnaire—Partner (RSEPR-P) was developed to assess rejection expectation, perception of rejection, and reactions to perceived rejection among intimate partners. This article details the construction and validation procedures, including item pool generation, factor analysis, and the estimation of reliability and validity. The researchers examined the psychometric properties of RSEPR-P in a community sample of 151 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the final 24 items suggested four-factor loading with each subscale loading on a separate factor. The subscales had good to excellent internal consistency. In support of the convergent validity, RSEPR-P exhibited robust correlations with rejection sensitivity-personal, mindfulness, marital adjustment, and self-esteem measures. A 6-month test–retest reliability was established. RSEPR-P is proposed to have potential therapeutic and research utility.

Examining associations between therapists' perceptions of therapy sessions and client-reported outcomes in naturalistic settings (real-life therapy settings) can provide valuable guidance for the assessment, treatment, and monitoring of clients. This study included data of 1334 sessions from 127 clients (86 individual and 41 couple cases) and 15 therapists, collected at a therapy training center. Clients reported their personal functioning and individual symptoms before each session. Therapists rated clients' participation, receptivity, session progress, goal progress, and therapeutic alliance at the end of each therapy session. Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling analyses revealed that therapist-rated client participation and goal progress predicted better personal functioning, beyond clients' previous personal functioning scores. In contrast, none of therapist-rated session variables predicted clients' individual symptoms, beyond previous symptom scores. Power analyses suggested sufficient statistical power to detect small effect sizes. Findings of the current study have clinical implications for treatment planning and progress monitoring.

Relationship standards are beliefs about what is important in a satisfying couple relationship, which vary considerably between cultures, and might mean that what couples seek from couple therapy differs across cultures. We assessed the standards of n = 49 Pakistani couples and whether those standards predicted couple satisfaction. To provide referents for the Pakistani standards, we also assessed selfreported relationship standards in n = 33 Western couples and n = 30 Chinese couples. Pakistani couples endorsed couple bond standards (e.g., expressions of love) as similarly important, and family responsibility (e.g., extended family relations) standards as more important, than Western or Chinese couples. In Pakistani couples, Couple Bond predicted couples' relationship satisfaction, but family responsibility and Religion predicted only wives' satisfaction. Modest sample sizes necessitate caution in interpreting results but suggest existing couple therapies might need modification to address the distinctive relationship standards of Pakistani couples.