28th International Congress of Psychology August 8 ... - U-netSURF

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4015 INVITED SYMPOSIUM
Prevention and treatment of couple distress
Convener and Chair: K. Hahlweg, Germany
Co-conveners: D.H. Baucom, USA
4015.1 Relationship schemas: Understanding how males and females process relationship
information, D.H. Baucom, L. Sullivan, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Relationship Schema is defined as the tendency to attend to and give relationship meaning to
events that happen within and outside of an individual’s romantic relationship. An observational
coding system, which assesses the degree and quality with which an individual uses Relationship
Schema, was applied to 50 maritally distressed couples. The relation between husbands’ and
wives’ Relationship-Schematic processing and marital satisfaction, both pre-treatment and
post-treatment, will be presented. The findings suggest the importance of increasing partners’
Relationship-Schematic processing to enhance treatment gains and to help distressed couples
move into a more optimal range of functioning.
4015.2 The outcome of behavioural marital therapy: Immediate impact and long-term follow-up,
A. Christensen, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
In a two-site clinical trial, 134 seriously and chronically distressed married couples, stratified into
moderately and severely distressed groups, were randomly assigned to Integrative or Traditional
Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT vs. TBCT). Couples received up to 26 sessions of treatment.
Assessments were conducted prior to treatment, at 13 and 26 weeks into treatment, at treatment
termination, and every 6 months for 2 years. The trajectory of change for IBCT and TBCT differed
during treatment. Follow-up findings to date indicate no differences between treatments for
moderately distressed couples but significantly greater maintenance for severely distressed
couples in IBCT than in TBCT.
4015.3 The prediction and prevention of marital distress and divorce: The results of a 23 year
follow-up, H.J. Markman, S.M. Stanley, G.M. Kline, A. Olmos-Gallo, T. Willi, University of
Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Relationship distress and divorce continue to be associated with a variety of mental health and
other social problems, and there is a growing international consensus that there is a need for
effective preventive interventions for couples. At the same time, there is growing interest and
discussions over what predicts divorce and distress. This paper reports the 23 year follow up of a
sample of couples from the Denver Family Development Study and on the long-term effects of the
PREP intervention. Implications for theories of relationship development and dissolution, marital
health and distress and for marriage education and divorce prevention programs will be discussed.
4015.4 Prevention of distress in gay couples, K. Hahlweg 1 , S. Seferovic 2 , 1 Technische
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