Trajectories of relationship and individual functioning among waitlisted couples for an online relationship intervention

Abstract

To inform research and practice with distressed couples, the current study was designed to examine patterns of change among distressed, help‐seeking couples prior to receiving an intervention. Data from this study originate from 221 couples assigned to the waitlist control condition of a randomized controlled trial for couples seeking online help for their relationship. All couples self‐selected into the online program and agreed to withhold seeking additional services for their relationship during the waitlist period. In contrast with prior findings, results from the current study indicated a general pattern of mean improvement in both self‐reported relationship functioning (e.g., increased relationship satisfaction, partner emotional support) and self‐reported individual functioning (i.e., decreased psychological distress, anger) over the six‐month waitlist period. Nonetheless, the majority of couples continued to remain relationally distressed despite these improvements. Findings from the study indicate that distressed couples can, in fact, exhibit some degree of improvement absent of intervention. At the same time, overall levels of distress remained elevated, indicating that these improvements are not sufficient to result in high levels of functioning and suggesting that many distressed couples may benefit from empirically supported programs to realize greater gains. These results also highlight and underscore the importance of including control conditions in studies examining the efficacy of relationship interventions with distressed couples to ensure that any observed improvements in relationship functioning are attributable to the intervention rather than to naturally occurring changes.

Relational concerns and change in relationship satisfaction in a relationship education program

“…Couples randomized to the control condition were more likely to be in a class characterized by increases in relationship satisfaction. These findings converge with recent work demonstrating that control group couples in a relationship enhancement intervention may also report improved relationship functioning (Barton et al, 2021; Doss et al, 2020; Kanter & Proulx, 2020). Thus, for some couples, seeking out formal assistance may be an intervention in itself, which facilitates better relationship functioning.…”

“…Though couples in this group demonstrated improvements, on average, they never surpassed the higher satisfaction class. Thus, similar to other studies following help‐seeking couples who did not receive an intervention (Barton et al, 2021), these improvements may not result in an overall satisfying relationship, but simply improvements in their prior levels of satisfaction. Taken together, if help‐seeking couples improve in their relationship functioning without a time intensive intervention, it may be worthwhile for practitioners to provide less intensive (e.g., online) programs to assist couples and perhaps prompt even larger gains in their relationships after agreeing to seek assistance.…”

African Americans’ relationship quality and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal investigation of the Marital Discord Model.

“…That said, this difference is likely to have more of an effect on mean levels of study variables rather than the nature of associations that are of primary focus in the present study. Prior research also highlights substantial heterogeneity in levels and trajectories of relationship functioning among help-seeking couples assigned to control condition (Barton et al, 2021), which this study was also able to leverage.…”

Marriage checkup in integrated primary care: A randomized controlled trial with active-duty military couples.

“…In contrast, previous study samples (e.g., Doss et al, 2020) were skewed toward more distressed couples, which would predispose detection of spontaneous recovery, due in part to both floor effects and, arguably, regression to the mean. That noted, however, there is enough inconsistency in the literature, with some community-sample studies demonstrating relationship health deterioration over time (e.g., Lavner & Bradbury, 2010) and others demonstrating evidence of spontaneous recovery in waitlist samples (Barton et al, 2021), that this phenomenon remains an area of ongoing study.…”