Infidelity and Behavioral Couple Therapy: Relationship Outcomes Over 5 Years Following Therapy

Prevalence rates for infidelity in American marriages range from 20% to 40%. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research on the effectiveness of couple therapy when there has been an infidelity. In the present study the posttherapy outcomes of 19 infidelity couples were examined for up to 5 years following participation in a larger (N 134) randomized clinical trial of couple therapy. All couples were randomized to Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) or Traditional Behavioral Couple Therapy (TBCT) regardless of infidelity status. They were assessed approximately every 6 months for 5 years posttherapy, and current analyses focus on three outcomes: divorce, relationship satisfaction, and marital stability. Divorce was examined using logistic regression, whereas relationship satisfaction and marital stability were examined using hierarchical linear modeling. Divorce rates were significantly higher for secret infidelity couples (80%, n 4) than for revealed infidelity (43%, n 6) and noninfidelity couples (23%, n 26). Infidelity couples who eventually divorced reported the highest marital instability; however, infidelity couples who remained married did not differ in marital stability or relationship satisfaction from noninfidelity couples. Furthermore, couples who remained married reported an increase in relationship satisfaction over time, regardless of infidelity status. Results suggest two potential pathways for couples recovering from infidelity such that some infidelity couples continue to improve and remain indistinguishable from their noninfidelity counterparts whereas other infidelity couples appear to markedly deteriorate and divorce.