Behavioral couples therapy versus individual-based treatment for male substance abusing patients - An evaluation of significant individual change andcomparison of improvement rates

Fals-Stewart, Birchler, and O'Farrell (1996) found that married or cohabiti ng substance-abusing men (n = 40) who participated in behavioral couples th erapy (BCT) in addition to individual-based treatment (IBT) for substance a buse had fewer days of substance use and, along with their partners, report ed higher levels of dyadic adjustment during and 1-year after treatment tha n husbands who received IBT only (n = 40). In the present study, significan t individual change in posttreatment frequency of substance use and dyadic adjustment was evaluated and comparisons of the proportions of participants receiving IBT and BCT who were improved, unchanged, or deteriorated in the se domains of functioning were made using data from Fals Stewart et al. (19 96). Growth curve analysis revealed that a larger proportion of husbands in the BCT condition showed significant reductions in substance use (n = 33, 83%) than husbands who received IBT (n = 24, 60%). Also, a larger proportio n of couples who participated in BCT showed improvements in dyadic adjustme nt (n = 24, 60%) than couples whose husbands received IBT only (n = 14, 35% ). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.