A randomized controlled trial of the Marriage Checkup adapted for private practice.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the effectiveness of the Marriage Checkup (MC), adapted for independent practice.


METHODS
A total of 233 couples were recruited from 2 metropolitan areas of Denmark and randomized to the MC adapted for independent practice (MC-P, n = 116) or a waitlist condition (WL, n = 117). Self-report measures of relationship health were obtained online at 3 (WL) or 6 (MC-P) time points across 54 weeks. MC-P couples received 2 checkups (Week 7 and 51). WL couples received tickets to a movie night (Week 10). Data were analyzed using multilevel growth models.


RESULTS
Following the first checkup, small intervention effects were found on 3 of 4 outcome measures. Between the checkups, the effects on 2 of 3 measures first leveled off then reappeared. Following the second checkup, intervention effects in the small to medium range were found on all 4 measures including the Brief Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Cohen's d = 0.48), the Couple Satisfaction Index (d = 0.20), the Responsiveness and Attention Scale (d = 0.43), and the Intimate Safety Questionnaire (d = 0.21).


CONCLUSIONS
Couples receiving 2 annual checkups across 54 weeks experienced small to medium effects on relationship health when compared to controls. These are the first and preliminary results on a model for conducting regular relationship health checkups in a real-world therapeutic setting. Future studies are needed to investigate the comparative and long-term effects of this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University.
Tea
0000-0002-4370-3094
T
Trillingsgaard
Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University.
Hanne N
HN
Fentz
Department of Psychology, Clark University.
Matt
M
Hawrilenko
Department of Psychology, Clark University.
James V
JV
Cordova
D000328:Adult; D019546:Couples Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011331:Private Practice