Interpersonal Skills Training for Couples in Early Stages of Conflict

This report outlines the initial phase in the development of a set of intervention techniques, and their accompanying assessment procedures. Training procedures for skills in negotiating behavior changes were designed to alleviate marital conflicts in 10 moderately distressed couples. Two sets of criteria were used to evaluate the outcome. The data showed significant changes in behavior for comparison of baseline and termination measures of problem-solving skills in the laboratory and in most measures of exchanges of aversive and reinforcing behavior in the home.