Marital disputes and treatment outcome in depressed women

This study assesses the relationship between improvement of marital disputes and other treatment outcomes. The subjects are 76 women who received 8 months of individual psychotherapy as part of a controlled clinical trial testing the efficacy of various outpatient maintenance treatments for depression. The presence or absence of marital disputes was rated at the beginning of treatment, and improvement or failure to improve was noted at the end of treatment. Three marital groups (no marital disputes, marital improvement, and no marital improvement) were compared in terms of symptom status and overall social adjustment at the beginning and end of treatment. The results reveal that depressed women with marital disputes at the onset of treatment have a generally poorer treatment outcome than women who are single or in supportive relationships. Only a minority of women with marital disputes effected an improvement in the relationship during the course of treatment. Those who improved their marriages also experienced an improvement in depressive symptoms, while those whose marriages did not improve experienced less improvement or a worsening of symptoms.