Specific and nonspecific factors in the effectiveness of a behavioral approach to the treatment of marital discord.

Abstract

This study compared two behavioral treatments for marital discord with a nonspecific control and a waiting-list control. The behavioral treatments combined training in problem-solvi ng skills with training in contingency management procedures, differing only with respect to the contracting form: One group learned to form good faith contracts, and the other, quid pro quo contracts. Thirty-two couples were randomly assigned to one of these treatment conditions and one of three therapists. Improvement was assessed by two observational measures and by two self-report questionnaires. On all measures, both behavioral groups improved significantly more than waiting-list couples. On three of the four measures, behavioral couples improved significantly more than nonspecific couples. The two behavioral groups did not differ from one another on any of the measures. Although an increasing number of reports have attested to the effectiveness of using social-learning principles in treating marital problems, most of these reports consist of uncontrolled case studies (cf. Jacobson &

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