Marital therapy, retreats, and books: The who, what, when, and why of relationship help-seeking

Brian D. Doss; Galena K. Rhoades; Scott M. Stanley; Howard J. Markman

doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2008.00093.x

Marital therapy, retreats, and books: The who, what, when, and why of relationship help-seeking

Brian D. Doss, Galena K. Rhoades, Scott M. Stanley, Howard J. Markman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

When doubts creep in and marriages begin to falter, where do couples turn for assistance? In a longitudinal study of 213 couples over the first 5 years of marriage, results indicated relationship help-seeking was relatively common, with 36% of couples seeking some form of outside help during this period. Individual and relationship difficulties predicted increased use of relationship books and marital therapy in the following year; therefore, these behaviors appear to be important outlets for relationship assistance. In contrast, attending marriage retreats/workshops was related only to demographic variables. Results of the present study suggest that the most common types of relationship help-seeking by community couples are understudied and likely underutilized in the dissemination of empirically based marital interventions.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	18-29
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
Volume	35
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2008.00093.x
State	Published - Jan 2009
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Sociology and Political Science

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