| Different modalities of couple therapy and enrichment has demonstrated post-treatment efficacy in treating couples experiencing distress. Less is known and understood about the long-term efficacy of this type of treatment. One such modality that has demonstrated post-treatment efficacy but not long-term efficacy is the Hope Focused Couple Approach. Results of this study indicated relationship satisfaction/functioning to decrease and regress to the mean while significant and positive linear changes continued to occur for relationship quality. These differences were reflected within the trajectory of effect sizes across multiple time points and highlight the importance of choosing measures that accurately reflect the type of treatment being utilized. When considering couples with similar outcomes, agreement that the participant's goal had been met, married in the same relationship, and engagement in individual treatment were commonly shared variables. Overall, findings were mixed and supportive of the different outcomes depending upon the measures. Further, these findings speak to the continued need for clinicians to continue tailoring not only the type of therapy, but also the measure of therapy and recommendations for adjunctive therapies. Future research may specifically want to focus on increasing the sample size and assessing different long-term follow up periods. |
