Marital distress and divorce show adverse consequences for both the couple and their children. The preventive indicated intervention, “The Marriage Checkup” (MC), has been found to lower the barriers for couples to seek help, and MC has consistently shown significant positive effects on several measures for relationship functioning. MC is a brief two-session structured intervention that is designed to be regularly repeated over time like other physical checkups. The primary aim in MC-P is to foster intimacy by using therapeutic techniques based on primarily integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT). Even though the long-term effects of MC may depend on booster sessions, no study has followed couples through more than two annual MCs and beyond two years. Therefore, we have recruited 76 couples who previously participated in and benefitted from receiving two MCs adapted for private practice (MC-P) scheduled one year apart as part of a randomized control trial of the MC-P [LINK: DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000141]. A total of 63 couples met the inclusion criteria and were randomized to one of two conditions: 1) a third booster MC-P taking place 5 years after their first MC-P or 2) a control group. Both groups received a 15 minutes questionnaire at three time points. The intervention group furthermore received a 30-40 minutes questionnaire (Assessment Inventory on relationship Risk and Resources; AIRR) a week before the MC-P. Primary outcome measures are relationship satisfaction, Responsiveness and Intimacy.

Trial registration: Open Science Framework, osf.io ID: t2aew. Registered July 4, 2018. Keywords: Marriage Checkup, brief couple intervention, preventive intervention, relationship satisfaction, intimacy   

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)