Abstract
Twenty maritally distressed couples (DC) and 20 nondistressed couples (NDC) were recruited and asked to undertake 10 minutes of problem-solving discussions, which were videotaped. Each individual partner's cognitive self-statements during the interaction were assessed using two methods: videoassisted recall (VR) and thought listing (TL). Reported cognitions from each method were content-analyzed and classified into five categories: partnerreferent positive, partner-referent negative, self-referent positive, self-referent negative, and other. Proportions of reported cognitions falling into each category were analyzed in two separate two-way MANOVAs (marital distress/nondistress ×sex) for the VR and TL measures. Results of each MANOVA indicated a highly significant effect of marital distress on cognitions, and a significant effect of sex on the VR but not the TL measure. Discriminant analyses showed that the VR and TL methods both discriminated between DC and NDC groups. Post hoc univariate ANOVAs indicated that DC had significantly higher proportions of negative partner-referent cognitions, and lower proportions of positive partner-referent cognitions, than NDC while problem solving. The relative merits of each cognitive assessment method, and their potential use in increasing marital therapy effectiveness, are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1980).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington DC: Author.
Baucom, D. H., & Lester, G. W. (1986). The usefulness of cognitive restructuring as an adjunct to behavioral marital therapy.Behavior Therapy, 17 385–403.
Berley, R. A., & Jacobson, N. S. (1984). Causal attributions in intimate relationships: Toward a model of cognitive behavioral marital therapy. In P. Kendall (Ed.),Advances in cognitive-behavioral research and therapy (Vol. 3, pp. 1–90). New York: Academic Press.
Broderick, J. E., & O'Leary, K. D. (1986). Contributions of affect, attritudes, and behavior to marital satisfaction.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54 514–517.
Cacioppo, J. R., & Petty, R. E. (1981). Social psychological procedures for cognitive response assessments: The thought listing technique. In T. V. Merluzzi, C. R. Glass, & M. Genest (Eds.),Cognitive assessment (pp. 388–438). New York: Guilford Press.
Camper, D. M., Jacobson, N. S., Holzworth-Munroe, A., & Schnaling, H. B. (1988). Causal attributions for interactional behaviors in married couples.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 12 195–210.
Congalton, A. A., & Daniel, A. E. (1976).The individual in the making. Sydney: Wiley.
Doherty, W. J. (1982). Attributional style and negative problem solving in marriage.Family Relations, 31 201–205.
Eidelson, R. J., & Epstein, N. (1982). Cognition and relationship maladjustment: Development of a measure of dysfunctional relationship beliefs.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50 715–720.
Epstein, N., Pretzer, J. L., & Fleming, B. (1987). The role of cognitive appraisal in self-reports of marital communication.Behavior Therapy, 18 51–69.
Fincham, F., & O'Leary, K. D. (1985). Causal inferences for spouse behavior in maritally distressed and nondistressed couples.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1 42–57.
Floyd, F. J., & Markman, M. R. (1983). Observational biases in spouse observation: Toward a cognitive/behavioral model of marriage.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51 450–457.
Genest, G., & Turk, D. C. (1981). Think aloud approaches to cognitive assessment. In T. V. Merluzzi, C. R. Glass, & M. Genest (Eds.),Cognitive assessment (pp. 233–269). New York: Guilford Press.
Gottmann, J. M., & Levenson, R. W. (1986). Assessing the role of emotion in marriage.Behavioral Assessment, 8 31–48.
Hollon, S. D., & Bemis, K. M. (1981). Self report and the assessment of cognitive functions. In M. Hersen & A. S. Bellack (Eds.),Behavioral assessment: A practical handbook (2nd ed., pp. 125–174). New York: Pergamon Press.
Holzworth-Munroe, A., & Jacobson, N. S. (1985). Causal attributions of married couples: When do they search for causes? What do they conclude when they do?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48 1398–1412.
Holzworth-Munroe, A., & Jacobson, N. S. (in press). Toward a methodology for coding spontaneous causal attributions: Preliminary results with married couples.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
Jacobson, N. S., McDonald, D. W., Follette, W. C., & Berley, R. A. (1985). Attributional process-G. (1984). Variability in outcome and clinical significance of behavioral marital therapy: A re-analysis of outcome data.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52 497–504.
Jacobson, N. S., & Margolin, G. (1979).Marital therapy: Strategies based on social learning and behavior exchange principles. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Jacobson, N. S., McDonald, D. W., Follete, W. C., & Berley, R. A. (1985). Attributional processes in distressed and nondistressed married couples.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9 35–50.
Jacobson, N. S., & Moore, D. (1981). Spouses as observers of events in their relationship.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49 269–277.
Kendall, P. C. (1983). Methodology and cognitive-behavioral assessment.Behavioral Psychotherapy, 11 285–301.
Kendall, P. C., & Hollon, S. D. (1981). Assessing self-referent speech: Methods in the measurement of self-statements. In P. C. Kendall & S. D. Hollon (Eds.),Assessment strategies for cognitive-behavioral interventions (pp. 85–118). New York: Academic Press.
Locke, H. J., & Wallace, K. M. (1959). Short-term marital adjustment and prediction tests: Their reliability and validity.Journal of Marriage and Family Living, 21 251–255.
Margolin, G. (1983). An interactional model for the behavioral assessment of marital relationships.Behavioral Assessment, 5 103–127.
Margolin, G., & Jacobson, N. S. (1981). Assessment of marital dysfunction. In M. Hersen & A. S. Bellack (Eds.),Behavioral assessment: A practical handbook (2nd ed., pp. 389–426). New York: Pergamon Press.
Meichenbaum, D. (1977).Cognitive behavior modification: An integrative approach. New York: Plenum Press.
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.Psychological Review, 84 231–259.
Sanders, M. R., & Halford, W. K. (in press). Situational variables and marital interaction.Behavior Change.
Schindler, L., & Volmer, M. (1984). Cognitive perspectives in behavioral marital therapy: Some proposals for bridging theory, research and practice. In K. Hahlweg & N. S. Jacobson (Eds.),Marital interaction: Analysis and modification (pp. 309–324). New York: Guilford Press.
Schwartz, R. M., & Garmoni, G. L. (1986). Cognitive assessment: A multibehavior-multimethod-multiperspective method.Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 8 185–195.
Statistical package for the social sciences-X (2nd ed.). (1986). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Weiss, R. L. (1984). Cognitive and behavioral measures of marital interaction. In K. Hahlweg & N. S. Jacobson (Eds.),Marital interaction: Analysis and modification (pp. 337–355). New York: Guilford Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors thank Robyn Bishop, Craig Davis, Peter Dunne, Joy Hallam, and Brian Bishop for their valued help in conducting this study, and Mark Dadds and three anonymous reviewers for making constructive suggestions on earlier drafts of this manuscript. This study was supported in part by Grant 85002 from the Behavior Research and Therapy Centre, University of Queensland.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Halford, W.K., Sanders, M.R. Assessment of cognitive self-statements during marital problem solving: A comparison of two methods. Cogn Ther Res 12, 515–530 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173417
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173417