Self-disclosure patterns in clinical and nonclinical couples.

Examined differences in the self-disclosing patterns of 10 clinical and 10 nonclinical couples in a structured interview using the Self-Disclosure Coding System (SDCS), a behavioral content analysis system designed to assess the basic parameters of disclosing behavior. A discriminant function analysis revealed that two SDCS variables, (1) time spent talking; and (2) judged degree of congruence between verbal content and affective manner of presentation, could discriminate the two groups and would classify correctly 70% of the couples. These results suggest that it is not what clinical couples say, but how they say it that will distinguish them from nonclinical couples.