Component Analysis of Behavioral Marital Therapy: 2‐year Follow‐up and Prediction of Relapse

The present study provides 2‐year follow‐up data for a comparison between a complete behavioral marital therapy treatment package (CO) and two of its major components, behavior exchange (BE) andcommunication/problem‐solving training (CPT). Data are reported for 34 couples who were randomly assigned to one of these three treatments, completed the treatment to which they were assigned, and were available for the 2‐year follow‐up. The effects of therapy at the 2‐year follow‐up were evaluated using a global measure of marital satisfaction and a checklist of presenting marital problems. Statistically significant differences between the three treatments were not in evidence on any of the measures. However, couples in the CO treatment condition were most likely to be happily married and least likely to be separated or divorced. Attempts to identify variables which predicted long‐term outcome were largely unsuccessful. Ananalysis based on standardized telephone interview indicated that, while neither therapist attributes nor maintenance of treatment‐derived relationship skills were associated with long‐term marital satisfaction, stressful life events subsequent to therapy termination were negatively related to marital satisfaction.