Measuring Outcomes in Couple Therapy: A Systematic Review and Critical Discussion

Abstract

This systematic review examined the measurement of outcomes in couple therapy research over the previous ten years. Eighty-one couple therapy outcome studies were systematically examined. Relative to previous two reviews that included both couple and family interventions, this review focused solely on couple therapy outcome studies and identified that a greater diversity in outcome measurements have begun to emerge in the field. Additionally, couple therapy outcome studies are beginning to explore the impact of couple interventions in the context of problems traditionally associated with individual pathology and individual treatment. Our review reinforced findings and recommendations from previous reviews, including the need for rigorous research design and explication of couple therapy models of intervention. Additionally, we recommend that qualitative analyses of unexpected findings or outcomes that may be interpreted as negative outcomes may assist couple therapy researchers in better understanding these findings.

KEYWORDS:

• couple therapy
• marital therapy
• outcome measurement