Effects of behavioral marital therapy using videotaped presentation and structured group discussion on perceived levels of marital intimacy and other relationship variables

The present study investigated the effectiveness of videotaped instructional material and structured group discussion on perceived levels of marital intimacy, satisfaction and adjustment, and patterns of reinforcement exchange. A model of behavioral marital therapy which incorporates concepts of reciprocity, communication, and cognitive restructuring was selected to directly effect change. Twelve married couples already in therapy were randomly assigned to either of two treatment groups; six non-distressed couples were selected for non-treatment control status. Both treatment groups viewed one videotape weekly and, immediately following, held one hour group discussions based on topics contained in each tape. For one group, the discussions were facilitated by a trained therapist; the other group had no discussion leader. After six treatment sessions, the groups were compared on four pretest and four posttest measures of marital intimacy, satisfaction and adjustment, and patterns of behavior exchange.Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the differences between groups on the posttest scores of the dependent measures, while using pretest scores as covariates. Gender was incorporated into the analyses to determine its effect on treatment results. Univariate F tests of planned comparisons reflecting the hypotheses of the study were performed on all dependent variables. A hypothesis which predicted that couples in both treatment groups would improve more than the control group was confirmed on tests measuring perceived intimacy and global satisfaction. Significant results were not obtained on all of the factors measuring patterns of exchange and adjustment; mean difference scores suggest changes in the predicted direction on eleven of the fifteen factors. A hypothesis which predicted that couples in the therapist-led group would improve more than couples in the nontherapist-led group was not confirmed; mean difference scores suggest changes in the predicted direction on the variables of intimacy and satisfaction. Gender was not found to be a significant factor in the overall study.Results of this study indicate increased levels of intimacy and other relationship variables among the participants. Further research into the concept of group marital therapy and the development of audio-visual materials as interventions to teach behavioral change and cognitive restructuring in marital and pre-marital settings is suggested