1 - (SYM 4) Get Better Together: Preventing Harmful Behaviors Through Improved Relationship Functioning

Interpersonal problems with a romantic partner are strongly associated with psychopathology and are a leading precursor to harmful behaviors, including suicide, intimate partner violence, and substance misuse. In contrast, satisfying romantic relationships can be protective against emotional distress. Get Better Together is a couple-based relationship education program for military couples that aims to prevent harmful behaviors by increasing interpersonal emotion regulation to adaptively manage distress and reducing relationship conflict that often proceeds harmful behaviors.

Get Better Together was evaluated with an open-armed pilot trial of 44 military couples in a committed, cohabitating relationship that attended a Get Better Together retreat and completed questionnaires at baseline and one, two, and three months following the retreat. Changes across the follow-up period in relationship functioning related to interpersonal emotion regulation and relationship conflict were assessed with hierarchical linear modeling.

Over the course of the follow-up period, couples reported a significant increase in overall interpersonal emotion regulation (b = 28.55; SE = 8.55; p = .002), with specific improvements in stress communicated by oneself (b = 1.40; SE = 0.29; p < .001) and one’s partner (b = 1.57; SE = 0.34; p < .001), addressing stressors together (e.g., dyadic problem solving; b = 1.67; SE = 0.42; p < .001), and satisfaction with how partners were supporting one another (b = 1.67; SE = 0.42; p < .001). In terms of relationship conflict, couples reported a significant decrease in relationship conflict (b = -2.56; SE = 0.94; p = .010) and significant improvements in comprising with one another (b = 20.98; SE = 4.75; p < .001) and taking timeouts to cool-off from escalating distress (b = 5.96; SE = 1.91; p = .003).

Get Better Together seeks to prevent harmful behaviors by fostering interpersonal emotion regulation and communication skill development. Findings suggest that couples who attend Get Better Together do indeed improve in these key areas anticipated to have long-term benefits for a range of harmful behaviors.