The Effects of Briefly Interrupting Marital Conflict

This study examined couples’ (N = 94) behavior resulting from two proximal change interventions. One was a spousal “compliments intervention” to increase positivity, and the other was a “criticize intervention” to increase negativity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two interventio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marital and family therapy 2018-01, Vol.44 (1), p.61-72
Main Authors: Gottman, John M., Tabares, Amber
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Behavior Patterns
Clinical psychology
Compliments
Control Groups
Couples
Family Conflict - psychology
Female
Humans
Intervention
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Manipulation
Marital relations
Marital satisfaction
Marital Therapy - methods
Marriage
Marriage counseling
Middle Aged
Personal relationships
Personal Satisfaction
Positive emotions
Spouses - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:This study examined couples’ (N = 94) behavior resulting from two proximal change interventions. One was a spousal “compliments intervention” to increase positivity, and the other was a “criticize intervention” to increase negativity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two intervention conditions or a control group. There was no main effect in affect from the pretest conflict discussion to the posttest conflict discussion between the interventions or control group. However, a manipulation check on how couples acted during either intervention produced a significant interaction effect. Pretest affect during conflict and marital satisfaction significantly predicted couples’ construal of the intervention. Professionals may need to monitor how couples use specific interventions and direct the processes how the intervention is construed by the couple.
ISSN:0194-472X
1752-0606
DOI:10.1111/jmft.12243