The Marriage Checkup: Increasing Access to Marital Health Care

Morrill, Melinda Ippolito; Eubanks-Fleming, CJ; Harp, Amanda G.; Sollenberger, Julia W.; Darling, Ellen; Córdova, James V.

doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2011.01372.x

Cited by 49 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…However, these services remain out of reach for many couples in distress. Preventing the deleterious effects of mental disorders on marital and other intimate social relationships will likely depend on efforts to expand access to these services through reducing financial and attitudinal barriers, use of new approaches that make these interventions more readily available [52,53] and integration of marital therapy techniques in routine mental health care.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term effects of mental disorders on marital outcomes in the National Comorbidity Survey ten-year follow-up

Mojtabai

Stuart

Hwang

et al. 2017

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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Purpose Epidemiological research has consistently shown an association between mental disorders and marital dissolution. However, this research mostly examined the association of divorce as a risk factor for mental illness. This study prospectively examined the associations of mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders with future marital dissolution and new marriages in a representative population sample. Methods The study used data from the National Comorbidity Survey panel study—a two-wave community epidemiological survey of 5,001 participants assessed in1990–1992 and re-interviewed in 2001–2003. Mental disorders were ascertained with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, a fully-structured interview. Association of baseline lifetime disorders and disorders with onset after the baseline with subsequent divorce and marriage/remarriage were examined using discrete-time survival analysis models. Results Mental disorders at baseline or with onset after baseline were associated with significantly greater odds of subsequent divorce among respondents who either were married at baseline or got married after baseline. Mental disorders with onset after baseline were associated with smaller odds of marriage or remarriage. Projections assuming causal effects of mental illness on marital outcomes suggest that preventing the effects of common mood, anxiety and substance use disorders would be associated with 6.7 million fewer divorces and 3.5 million more marriages in the US population over an 11 year period. Conclusions Individuals with common mental illnesses are at greater risk of marital dissolution, and are less likely to enter new marriages. These factors contribute to the diminished social engagement and social support for individuals with these disorders. Interventions aimed at improving marital and family relationships could potentially ameliorate the effect of mental disorders on these vital social ties.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term effects of mental disorders on marital outcomes in the National Comorbidity Survey ten-year follow-up

Mojtabai

Stuart

Hwang

et al. 2017

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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“…The MC was designed to lower barriers to accessing relationship health care for all couples across the spectrum of relationship distress by being informative, brief, and low-pressure (Morrill et al, 2011). Findings suggest that this approach can achieve these goals: The MC program to date has attracted couples with a wide range of marital functioning, from happy to moderately and severely distressed, including at-risk couples who had never previously sought intervention (Cordova et al, 2005;Morrill et al, 2011).…”

Section: The Marriage Checkupmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Implementation Study of Relationship Checkups as Home Visitations for Low‐Income At‐Risk Couples

et al. 2018

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Couples with the greatest need for relationship health maintenance and intervention are often least able to afford and access it; therefore, accessible, affordable, effective, and brief interventions are needed to improve relationship health for those who need it most. Consequently, this paper examined whether a brief relationship intervention could be effectively implemented with a low‐income, underserved population. All enrolled participants (N = 1,312) received the Relationship Checkup, which consists of an assessment and a feedback session delivered in their homes or at a local clinic at their request. Measures assessed relationship satisfaction, communication, psychological and physical aggression, and intimacy at baseline and 1‐month follow‐up, and program and relationship satisfaction at 6‐month follow‐up. All participants reported significant improvements on all outcomes with small effect sizes. However, moderation analyses suggested that distressed couples reported significantly larger effects across the board. Overall, participants reported that they were highly satisfied with the intervention both immediately after its delivery and 6 months later. Findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of this brief checkup and point to the utility of offering these kinds of low‐cost brief interventions in flexible formats for those who might have the most difficulty accessing them.

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“…About 44% had moderately distressed baseline scores, and 19% scored in the highly distressed range. Furthermore, 63% of MC participants had never sought couples therapy previously and over 32% of MC participants reported the MC as their first utilization of any mental health services (Morrill et al, 2011). These findings suggest that the MC’s novel approach as an informational marital health checkup attracts a broad range of couples, many of whom fall into the “at-risk” category, and who might not otherwise seek marital health services.…”

Section: The Marriage Checkup: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intended to be the relationship health equivalent of the annual physical or dental checkup, the MC was designed to fill the gap in empirically supported relationship health care between tertiary care and preventative relationship education. The present study assesses the efficacy of the Marriage Checkup (Cordova, 2009; 2014; Cordova, Scott, Dorian, Mirgain, Yaeger, & Groot, 2005; Gee, Scott, Castellani, & Cordova, 2002; Morrill et al, 2011) as a brief, accessible maritalhealth intervention. The MC is a 2-session assessment and feedback intervention designed to be a safe and routine procedure for relationship health maintenance, early problem detection, and early intervention.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Marriage Checkup: A randomized controlled trial of annual relationship health checkups.

Córdova¹,

Fleming²,

Morrill³

et al. 2014

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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124

173

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Objective This study assessed the efficacy of the Marriage Checkup for improving relationship health and intimacy. Method Cohabiting married couples (N=215, Mage women=44.5 years, men=47 years, 93.1% Caucasian) recruited from a northeastern U.S. metropolitan area through print and electronic media were randomly assigned to MC treatment or wait-list control. Treatment but not control couples participated in assessment and feedback visits, at the beginning of the study and again one year later. All couples completed nine sets of questionnaires over two years. Outcome measures included the Quality of Marriage Index, the Global Distress subscale of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised, the Intimate Safety Questionnaire, and the Relational Acceptance Questionnaire. Results A latent growth curve model indicated significant between group differences in intimacy at every measurement point after baseline (d ranged from .20 to .55, Md = .37), significant between group differences in women’s felt acceptance for every measurement point after baseline (d ranged from .17 to .47, Md = .34), significant between group differences in men’s felt acceptance through the 1-year-2 week follow-up (d across follow-up ranged from .11 to .40, Md = .25), and significant between group differences in relationship distress through 1-year 6-month follow-up (d across follow-up ranged from .11 to .39, Md = .23). Conclusions Longitudinal analysis of the MC supports the hypothesis that the MC significantly improves intimacy, acceptance, and satisfaction. Implications for dissemination are discussed.

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The Marriage Checkup: Increasing Access to Marital Health Care

Cited by 49 publications

References 19 publications

Long-term effects of mental disorders on marital outcomes in the National Comorbidity Survey ten-year follow-up

Long-term effects of mental disorders on marital outcomes in the National Comorbidity Survey ten-year follow-up

An Implementation Study of Relationship Checkups as Home Visitations for Low‐Income At‐Risk Couples

The Marriage Checkup: A randomized controlled trial of annual relationship health checkups.

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