Abstract
Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) has demonstrated its efficacy treating severe couple conflict. Nevertheless, its capacity to prevent such conflicts before they appear has not been analyzed. The following empirical study examines the effectiveness of a conflict prevention program based on IBCT’s main therapeutic strategies (empathic joining, unified detachment). A sample of 12 individuals (six couples) from the Community of Madrid completed the DAS (Spanier, 1976; Martín-Lanas et al., 2017), IBCTQ (Barraca et al., 2017), and ASPA-A (Carrasco, 1996) pre-treatment, posttreatment, and at a three-year follow up. Three of these couples were randomly assigned to the experimental group, in which they received five, 120-minute sessions of an IBCT-based conflict prevention program. The three remaining couples were assigned to a control group and received no treatment. Results indicated that the experimental couples grew in their acceptance of differences and significantly improved their level of empathic joining and unified detachment; they also manifested greater satisfaction in their total DAS score. At the three-year follow up, neither group showed significant changes with regard to their posttreatment scores. Although the data are based on a small number of couples and should be replicated, the results suggest that a program based on IBCT strategies can help prevent couple conflict up to three years after its application.
Highlights
Most couples seek therapy only when experiencing high levels of distress and numerous conflicts, with the corresponding risk of relationship dissolution [1,2]
Results reveal that the program can be efficacious in increasing relationship quality in the short-term and long-term, with the logical caution imposed by the small sample size
With regard to specific Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) variables, this program helps couples develop a greater use of empathic joining and unified detachment (IBCTQ). These results suggest that couples who complete the program are better able to conceive negative situations and actions by their partner as examples of differences that exist in the couple instead of personal attacks, just as the IBCT model posits [21], which are results that continue to suggest that the IBCT model applies cross-culturally
Summary
Most couples seek therapy only when experiencing high levels of distress and numerous conflicts, with the corresponding risk of relationship dissolution [1,2]. If generic risk factors for couple conflict were tackled earlier, their appearance could be prevented or diminished, resulting in greater relationship satisfaction and psychological well-being both in the medium and long-term. Such prevention would alleviate the pressure on legal and health services, avoiding the personal, social, and economic costs that accompany relationship deterioration [5,6].
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