Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:37:46.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Individual Behavioural–Cognitive Therapy v. Marital Therapy for Depression in Maritally Distressed Couples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Lineke Emanuels-Zuurveen  and
Paul M. G. Emmelkamp
Lineke Emanuels-Zuurveen
Affiliation:
Academic Hospital, Groningen, The Netherlands
Paul M. G. Emmelkamp*
Affiliation:
Academic Hospital, Groningen, The Netherlands
*
Paul M. G. Emmelkamp, Department of Clinical Psychology, Postbox 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Depressed patients are often characterised by marital distress, but few studies investigate the effects of marital therapy on depressed mood and relationship dysfunction.

Method

Twenty-seven depressed patients experiencing marital distress were randomly assigned to either individual behavioural–cognitive therapy or marital therapy. The individual treatment condition focused on depressed mood, behavioural activity and dysfunctional cognitions, whereas in the marital condition the partner was involved in the treatment and the focus was on the communication process in the marital relationship. MANOVAs revealed that treatment led to statistically significant improvements in depressed mood, behavioural activity and dysfunctional cognitions, an increase in relationship satisfaction and improvement of communication in patients and spouses. A significant interaction effect was found, showing that marital therapy had more impact on relationship variables than the individual treatment.

Conclusion

Both individual cognitive–behaviour therapy and marital therapy lead to less depressive complaints, and both treatment conditions have a positive effect on the relationship, although the effect on the relationship is significantly stronger in couples who were treated by marital therapy compared with patients who were treated individually.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 169 , Issue 2 , August 1996 , pp. 181 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1993) Practice Guideline for Major Depressive Disorder in Adults. Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Arrindell, W. A., Boelens, W. & Lambert, H. (1983) On the psychometric properties of the Maudsley Questionnaire (MMQ): evaluation of self-ratings in distressed and “normal” volunteer couples based on the Dutch version. Personality and Individual Differences, 4, 293–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beach, S. R. H., Jouriles, E. N. & O'Leary, K. D. (1985) Extramarital sex: Impact on depression and commitment in couples seeking marital therapy. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 11, 9–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beach, S. R. H., Sandeen, E. E. & O'Leary, K. D. (1990) Depression in Marriage: A Model for Etiology and Treatment. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Beach, S. R. H., & O'Leary, K. D. (1985) Treating depression in the context of marital discord: Outcome and predictors of response for marital therapy versus cognitive therapy. Behavior Therapy, 23, 507–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beach, S. R. H., Whisman, M. A. & O'Leary, K. D. (1994) Marital therapy for depression: theoretical foundation, current status, and future directions. Behavior Therapy, 25, 345–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendleson, M., et al (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., et al (1979) Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Buunk, B. & Nuskens, J. (1980) Communicatie en satisfactie in intieme relaties. Gedrag, 4, 242–260.Google Scholar
Cole, J. D. & Kazarian, S. S. (1988) The level of expressed emotion scale: a new measure of expressed emotion. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44, 392–397.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowe, M. J. (1978) Conjoint marital therapy: A controlled outcome study. Psychological Medicine, 8, 623–636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derogatis, L. R. (1977) SCL-90(R): Administration, Scoring and Procedures Manual-I for the Revised Version of Other Instruments of the Psychopathology Rating Scale Series. Baltimore: Clinical Psychometrics Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.Google Scholar
Emanuels-Zuurveen, L. & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (1996) Spouseaided therapy with depressed patients. Behavior Modification (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (1994) Behavior therapy with adults. In Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change, pp. 373–427. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Emmelkamp, P. M. G., van der Helm, M., Macgillavry, D., et al (1984) Marital therapy with clinically distressed couples: A comparative evaluation of system theoretic, contingency contracting and communication skills approaches. Marital Interaction Analysis and Modification (eds Hahlweg, K. & Jacobson, N.), pp. 36–70. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Emmelkamp, P. M. G., Krol, B., Sanderman, R., et al (1987) The Relationships Beliefs Inventory: a psychometric evaluation. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 775–880.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmelkamp, P. M. G., Van Linden van der Heuvel, C. G., Ruphan, M., et al (1988) Cognitive and behavioral interventions: A comparative valuation with clinically distressed couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 1, 365–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmelkamp, P. M. G., van Dyck, R., Bitter, M., et al (1992) Spouse-aided therapy with agoraphobics. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 51–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerlsma, C., van der Lubbe, P. M. & van Nieuwenhuizen, C. H. (1992) Factor analysis of the Level of Expressed Emotion Scale, a questionnaire to measure perceived expressed emotion. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 385–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiller, W., Zaudig, M. & Mombour, W. (1990) Development of diagnostic checklists for use in routine clinical care. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 782–784.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hollon, S. D., Shelton, R. C. & Davis, D. D. (1993) Cognitive therapy for depression: conceptual issues and clinical efficacy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 270–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hooley, J. M. & Teasdale, J. D. (1985) Predictors of relapse in unipolar depressives: expressed emotion, marital distress, and perceived criticism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 3, 229–235.Google Scholar
Jacobson, N. S., Dobson, K., Fruzeiti, A. E., et al (1991) Marital therapy as a treatment for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 547–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koopmans, P. C., Sanderman, R., Timmerman, I., et al (1994) The Irrational Beliefs Inventory: development and psychometric evaluation. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 10, 15–27.Google Scholar
Lewinsohn, P. M. (1975) The behavioral study and treatment of depression. In Progress in Behavior Modification, Vol. 1 (eds Hersen, M., Eisler, R. M. & Miller, P. M.), pp. 19–64. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Macphillamy, D. J. & Lewinsohn, P. M. (1982) The Pleasant Events Schedule: Studies on Reliability, validity and Scale intercorrelation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 818–836.Google Scholar
Rounsaville, B. J., Weissmann, M. M., Prusoff, B. A., et al (1979) Marital disputes and treatment outcome in depressed women. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 20, 483–490.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shea, M. T., Elkin, I., Imber, S. D., et al (1992) Course of depressive symptoms over follow-up. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 782–787.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, E. B. & Klein, D. N. (1989) Assessing recovery in depression: Validity of symptom inventories. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 13, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.