Several couple interventions targeting relationship health also show beneficial effects on individual mental health, including e.g., reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Yet, strikingly few studies report effects on perceived stress, despite the increasing prevalence of stress in populations worldwide. From previous studies, there seems to be potential for the brief couple intervention, the Marriage Checkup, to have a positive “spill-over” effect from improving relationship health on reducing individual stress symptoms. On the other hand, considering the sparse evidence base for effects of couple interventions on perceived stress specifically, it cannot be ruled out that a checkup model can also evoke some level of unintended perceived stress, given its recurrent evaluations of the relationship. Thus, using data from a randomized controlled trial of 231 Danish couples [LINK: DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000141], we investigated the positive and negative effect of two annual Marriage Checkups on perceived stress symptoms including its maintenance at 2-year follow-up.

Trial registration: Open Science Framework, osf.io ID: t2aew. Registered July 4, 2018.

Head of Project: Astrid Bjørn Leth-Nissen

Other associates: Tea Trillingsgaard (supervisor), Hanne Nørr Fentz (co-supervisor), Gertraud Stadler (statistical supervisor), James Córdova (developer of the Marriage Checkup), The Center for Family Development, Denmark (collaborator).