Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psy- chology, University of Rochester.
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University.
J Consult Clin Psychol. 2013 Dec;81(6):949-961. doi: 10.1037/a0034209. Epub 2013 Sep 23.
Evidence in support of skill-based programs for preventing marital discord and dissolution, while promising, comes mainly from studies using single treatment conditions, passive assessment-only control conditions, and short-term follow-up assessments of relationship outcomes. This study overcomes these limitations and further evaluates the efficacy of skill-based programs.
Engaged and newlywed couples (N = 174) were randomly assigned to a 4-session, 15-hr small-group intervention designed to teach them skills in managing conflict and problem resolution (PREP) or skills in acceptance, support, and empathy (CARE). These couples were compared to each other, to couples receiving a 1-session relationship awareness (RA) intervention with no skill training, and to couples receiving no treatment on 3-year rates of dissolution and 3-year trajectories of self-reported relationship functioning.
Couples in the no-treatment condition dissolved their relationships at a higher rate (24%) than couples completing PREP, CARE, and RA, who did not differ on rates of dissolution (11%). PREP and CARE yielded unintended effects on 3-year changes in reported relationship behaviors. For example, wives receiving PREP showed slower declines in hostile conflict than wives receiving CARE, and husbands and wives receiving CARE showed faster declines in positive behaviors than husbands and wives receiving PREP.
These findings highlight the potential value of cost-effective interventions such as RA, cast doubt on the unique benefits of skill-based interventions for primary prevention of relationship dysfunction, and raise the possibility that skill-based interventions may inadvertently sensitize couples to skill deficits in their relationships.
支持基于技能的项目以预防婚姻不和与破裂的证据虽然很有前景，但主要来自于使用单一治疗条件、仅进行被动评估的对照组条件以及对关系结果进行短期随访评估的研究。本研究克服了这些局限性，并进一步评估了基于技能的项目的疗效。
将 174 对订婚和新婚夫妇随机分配到 4 节 15 小时的小组干预中，该干预旨在教授他们管理冲突和解决问题的技能（PREP）或接受、支持和共情的技能（CARE）。将这些夫妇彼此进行比较，与接受 1 节无技能培训的关系意识干预的夫妇进行比较，以及与未接受治疗的夫妇在 3 年的离婚率和 3 年的自我报告关系功能轨迹上进行比较。
未接受治疗的夫妇离婚率较高（24%），而完成 PREP、CARE 和 RA 的夫妇离婚率则没有差异（11%）。PREP 和 CARE 对报告的关系行为 3 年变化产生了意外的影响。例如，接受 PREP 的妻子在敌对冲突方面的下降速度比接受 CARE 的妻子慢，而接受 CARE 的丈夫和妻子在积极行为方面的下降速度比接受 PREP 的丈夫和妻子快。
这些发现突出了成本效益高的干预措施（如 RA）的潜在价值，对基于技能的干预措施在预防关系功能障碍方面的独特益处提出了质疑，并提出了一种可能性，即基于技能的干预措施可能会无意中使夫妇对其关系中的技能缺陷敏感。
