Methodological issues in marital therapy

Abstract

This paper examines the major strengths of current marital therapy research methodology, as well as some of the problems and challenges facing researchers. Strengths discussed include the widespread use of assessment instruments with demonstrated reliability and validity, concurrent use of both self-report and observational measures, use of clinical significance statistics, and the availability of detailed treatment manuals. Some of the current challenges discussed here include the need for assessment of individual quality of life rather than exclusive focus on marital satisfaction, better understanding of the unit of analysis employed (e.g., couple vs. individual partner), evaluation of nonstandardized treatments, more thorough description of inclusionary and exclusionary criteria used in research, and the need for longer term follow-up. The authors include a number of suggestions to improve and standardize current research methodology.