Across nearly all cultures, sharing a lifelong committed relationship with an intimate partner comprises an almost universal and strongly held ambition. Nevertheless, cross-national data reliably indicate a high prevalence of relationship distress and dissolution, with adverse emotional and physical health consequences for adult partners and their children. This introduction to the special sect...

Integrative behavioural couple therapy (IBCT) Traditional TBCT relied for its effectiveness on the ability of couples to accommodate and collaborate with each other. Aware that many couples could not do this, and that conflict could have positive as well as negative effects, Jacobson and Christensen developed the model to incorporate ‘acceptance’ as a central focus for couples with irreconcilab...

OBJECTIVE Within the United States, one third of married couples are distressed and almost half of first marriages (and more than half of unmarried cohabiting relationships) end in divorce/separation. Additionally, relationship distress has been linked to mental and physical health problems in partners and their children. Although couple therapy is effective in reducing relationship distress, i...

Background Studies show that uptake of couples' HIV counseling and testing (couples' HCT) can be affected by individual, relationship, and socioeconomic factors. However, while couples' HCT uptake can also be affected by background HIV prevalence and awareness of the existence of couples' HCT services, this is yet to be documented. We explored the correlates of previous couples' HCT uptake amon...

BACKGROUND Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and condom use have been proven to reduce the risk of sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among HIV sero-different couples, but its full implementation remains a challenge. This study aims to assess HIV seroconversion rate of HIV-negative spouse and its associated risk factors among HIV sero-different couples in rural China. METHOD...

To examine changes in dyadic communication, as well as links between communication and long-term relationship outcomes, 134 distressed couples randomly assigned to either Traditional Behavioral Couple Therapy (TBCT; Jacobson & Margolin, 1979) or Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT; Jacobson & Christensen, 1998) were observed in video-recorded interactions. Observers rated discussions of...

BACKGROUND Marriage is a legal pact between a man and a woman for participating in a social life together which can play an important role in dealing with difficulties. OBJECTIVES This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between marital satisfaction and compatibility with diabetes in patients with type 2 diabetes. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study method was descriptive-corre...

OBJECTIVE Empirically based couple therapy results in significant improvements in relationship satisfaction for the average couple; however, further research is needed to identify mediators that lead to change and to ensure that improvements in mediators predict subsequent-not just concurrent-relationship satisfaction. In addition, given that much of the current literature on couple therapy exa...

volume, attachment theory has become a prominent theory for understanding functioning in adult romantic relationships. Since the publication of Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) seminal paper describing the application of attachment theory to adult romantic relationships, research demonstrating how attachment security affects relationships has burgeoned. However, relatively little of that research has ...

Infidelity is one of the most difficult problems to address in couple therapy, most likely because it involves a traumatic relationship event that alters the ways in which couples process information about each other and established behavioral patterns. We present a three-stage treatment designed to address the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional sequelae of affairs that integrates cognitive-b...