Dyadic Coping in Couple Therapy Process: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This study aimed at moving beyond previous research on couple therapy efficacy by examining moment-by-moment proximal couple and therapist interactions as well as final treatment outcomes and their reciprocal association. Seven hundred four episodes of dyadic coping within 56 early therapy sessions, taken from 28 married couples in treatment, were intensively analyzed and processed using a mixed-methods software (T-LAB). Results showed that negative dyadic coping was self-perpetuating, and therapists tended to passively observe the negative couple interaction; on the contrary, positive dyadic coping appeared to require a therapist's intervention to be maintained, and successful interventions mainly included information gathering as well as interpreting. Couples who dropped out of treatment were not actively engaged from the outset of therapy, and they used more negative dyadic coping, whereas couples who successfully completed treatment showed more positive dyadic coping very early in therapy. Results highlight the role of therapist action and control as critical to establishing rapport and credibility in couple therapy and suggest that dyadic coping patterns early in therapy may contribute to variable treatment response.

Till the ocean do us part: Italian and American therapists representations of stepfamilies in treatment

“…The categories resulting from the content analysis were then inserted in a software for textual analysis, i.e , T-LAB 4.1.1 PRO (Lancia, 2004 ; Margola, Donato, Accordini, Emery, & Snyder, 2017 ; Margola, Facchin, Molgora, & Revenson, 2010 ).…”

Surviving Job Loss Stress: Examining Dyadic Coping Process across Time

“…Dyadic coping explores stress transmission between two individuals resulting in a shared coping process. Moreover, dyadic coping occurs when a stressful event affects one partner, and subsequently elicits a behavioral response from the other partner (Margola et al, 2018). This process seeks to return the dyad to homeostasis (Bodenmann et al, 2002).…”

“…As a result of job loss and subsequent unemployment, partners must adapt to transitional changes in household roles, daily routine, and financial and healthcare instability (Luhmann et al, 2014). Based on these factors, reasonable conjecture is that couples coping with job loss would approach the stressor as a unit similar to research on couples coping with health issues (Margola et al, 2018).…”

“…Research exploring the association of spousal relationship and social support on mental health indicates that higher perceived support is related to greater overall relationship satisfaction (Quadir et al, 2013). Learning how stress and coping unfold over time is critical to understanding why certain relationships break up during stressful periods while others thrive (Margola et al, 2018).…”

Moment-by-moment interpersonal behaviors in poor vs. good psychodynamic psychotherapy outcomes: Does complementarity say it all?

“…The overall point is this: If patients are highly receptive to the therapist’s behavior (Horvath et al, 2011 ; Orlinsky et al, 2004 ), the latter should drive the context, without counteracting (Margola et al, 2018 ) or discouraging and weakening oneself (von der Lippe et al, 2008 ) even in the face of asymmetry and hostility.…”