The influence of therapeutic self-disclosure on perceived marital intimacy
Authors:
E. M. Waring a;
Betsy Schaefer b;
Richard Fry b
| Affiliations: | a Queen's University, and Chief of Psychiatry, Hotel Dieu and Kingston General Hospitals, Kingston, Ontario |
| b Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, London, Ontario |
DOI:
10.1080/00926239408403424
Publication Frequency:
5 issues per year
Formats available:
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(English)
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Abstract
This study examines the effect of therapeutic changes in a couple's self-disclosure behavior and its impact on their perception of their marital intimacy. Twenty couples participated in 10 weekly sessions of structured self-disclosure. The Self-Disclosure Coding System was used to rate audiotapes of the second and ninth sessions. Two raters, blind to treatment condition, demonstrated high interrater reliability on measures of changes in: 1) amount of self-disclosure; 2) whether self-references were positive, negative, or neutral; 3) depth of disclosures; and 4) rate of self-reference. Spouses, who were rated as disclosing in greater depth and referring to themselves in a more positive manner, perceived increased intimacy in their marriages as a consequence of therapy. The role of self-disclosure between spouses as a specific technique in marital therapy merits further study.
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