Investigating couple relationships and change during couple and family therapy : A specific focus on domestic violence and work functioning

Abstract

The aims of this thesis were to investigate couple relationships and change in those relationships during couple and family therapy, with a specific focus on domestic violence and work functioning. The first subsidiary aim was to assess, theoretically and empirically, what level of simplification should be applied to the comprehensive measure used in this study. The second subsidiary aim was to examine the physical couple and family violence among clients receiving couple and family therapy. The final subsidiary aim was to analyze the clients’ change in work functioning from pre- to posttreatment. The clients who participated in this study (N=841) can be considered as representative of clients in couple and family therapy in Norway when considering income, the number of children, educational level, prior experience with therapy, and levels of distress on individual and relational measures. Domestic violence is commonly mentioned in the news because the consequences sometimes are fatal. However, research on domestic violence on clinical samples is sparse, and it has often failed to differentiate between emotional and physical violence. Furthermore, violence between others in the family besides the couple has, to the best of my knowledge, not been included. Outcome studies of couple and family therapy most often focus on relational functioning or individual distress. However, work functioning has, to the best of my knowledge, not been used as an outcome measure.