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Several couple interventions targeting relationship distress also show beneficial effects on individual mental health. Yet, strikingly few studies report effects on perceived stress. This study examined the effects of a brief couple intervention, the Marriage Checkup (MC), on perceived stress. We randomly assigned 231 couples to receive two MCs (Weeks 7 and 51) or to a waitlist control. Survey data were collected at seven time points over 2 years and analyzed using multilevel models. We found no significant between-group treatment effects on average stress at any time point. However, women, but not men, in the intervention group experienced decreased stress after the second MC (d = -0.23) and more women in the intervention group (26.5%) compared with the control group (14.9%) experienced reliable improvements in stress after the second MC. Overall, the MC did not result in main effects on stress but caused temporary reliable change in terms of stress relief for women., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

This study examined maintenance and booster effects of a brief couple intervention, the Marriage Checkup (MC), across 5 years. A subsample of 63 couples who benefitted from two previous MCs (responder couples), were randomly assigned to a third MC or control. Before randomization (at 4-years-9-months), the responder sample had maintained small to medium effects on two measures of relationship functioning. After randomization, we found no significant between-group effects. Yet, within-group analyses revealed that while control couples showed flat trajectories in all outcomes after the 4-year-9-months baseline, couples receiving a third MC (at Year 5) reported small to medium improvements in three measures of relationship functioning and maintained follow-up effect in one measure. Findings indicate that couples who initially improved from the MC can maintain some of their improvements over long periods. The potential of boosting such improvements with recurrent MCs is a relevant target for further investigation in larger samples., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

Empirically supported couple interventions often transfer from the US to several other parts of the world yet we have little data on their final reach. This study investigated relationship help-seeking in a random population sample of 1,371 individuals living with a partner in Denmark, a European high income - high divorce country. Only a small fraction of respondents had ever sought couple education (3%) or counseling/therapy (7%) with their partner. Among respondents experiencing a severe relationship crisis, individual types of help-seeking were the most prevalent. Both women (38.9%) and men (27.8%) with a recent relationship crisis sought information online, and mostly women (19.4%) also sought individual therapy. Findings can inform strategies for increasing the reach of couples in new cultural contexts., (© 2018 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

The primary aim of the current meta-analysis was to investigate the overall effect of a relationship checkup (RC), a couple-oriented assessment, and feedback intervention. Systematic literature searches revealed 12 eligible randomized trials published between 1995 and 2015. Results showed significant overall pre-post effect of an RC on marital functioning (Hedge's g = 0.20) and individual mental health (g = 0.44). The between-group controlled effect size was significant at postassessment (g = 0.23) and up to six-month follow-up (g = 0.23). Characteristics of the RC format, therapist-guided versus self-directed, or the study samples, distressed versus healthy, did not moderate the overall effect of the RC. Thus, our results suggest an RC to improve couples' marital functioning up to six-month follow-up, while the effect on individual mental health and repeated delivery of a RC awaits further research., (© 2016 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)