Behavioral couples therapy for male substance-abusing patients: effects on relationship adjustment and drug-using behavior.
Married or cohabitating substance-abusing patients (N = 80) who were entering individual outpatient treatment, most of whom were referred by the criminal justice system (n = 68; 85%), were randomly assigned to a no-couples-treatment control group (n = 40) or to 12 weekly sessions of adjunctive behavioral couples therapy (BCT; n = 40). Drug use and relationship adjustment measures were collected at pretreatment, posttreatment, and at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups. Couples who received BCT as part of individual-based treatment had better relationship outcomes, in terms of more positive dyadic adjustment and less time separated, than couples in which husbands received individual-based treatment only. Husbands in the BCT condition also reported fewer days of drug use, longer periods of abstinence, fewer drug-related arrests, and fewer drug-related hospitalizations through the 12-month follow-up period than husbands receiving individual-based treatment only. However, some of the drug use and relationship adjustment differences between these groups dissipated over the course of the follow-up period.
Harvard Families and Addiction Research Program, Harvard Medical School Psychiatry Department, Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. falste@harvarda.harvard.edu
W
W
Fals-Stewart
G R
GR
Birchler
T J
TJ
O'Farrell
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs