Publications by authors named "Larisa N Cicila"

Using a sample of 134 distressed, different-sex couples, this study investigated the effects of Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy and Traditional Behavioral Couple Therapy on sexual dissatisfaction and sexual frequency both during treatment and in the five years following treatment. Therapy effects depended on treatment type, gender, and whether sexual distress was identified as a presenting problem; while couple therapy may initially improve some aspects of the sexual relationship, impacts tend to fade over follow-up. Couple therapy may benefit from incorporating a greater emphasis on sex and inclusion of techniques from sex therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Couples are increasingly utilizing newly developed online adaptations of couple therapy; however, different presenting problems could drive couples to seek either online or in-person services. This study compared the presenting problems of 151 couples seeking an online couple intervention for relationship distress (OurRelationship) with responses from 147 couples seeking in-person couple therapy. Presenting problems were generally consistent across gender and whether or not the respondent was the initial help-seeker.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Within the United States, one third of married couples are distressed and almost half of first marriages (and more than half of unmarried cohabiting relationships) end in divorce/separation. Additionally, relationship distress has been linked to mental and physical health problems in partners and their children. Although couple therapy is effective in reducing relationship distress, it is utilized by less than one third of divorcing couples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Although there are a number of highly efficacious in-person treatments designed to ameliorate relationship distress, only a small proportion of distressed couples seek out in-person treatment. Recently developed internet-based interventions based on these in-person treatments are a promising way to circumvent common barriers to in-person treatment and give more distressed couples access to these efficacious interventions. The overarching aims of this review are to provide couple and family therapists with a broad overview of the available internet-based interventions and provide suggestions about how these interventions might be utilized before, during, or after in-person treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The transition to parenthood has been repeatedly identified as a stressful period, with couples reporting difficulties in domains of individual, coparenting, and relationship functioning. Moreover, these difficulties have been shown to impact children's development. To buffer against these difficulties, numerous effective parenting, couple, and combined interventions have been developed; however, these interventions are typically lengthy, which limits their potential for dissemination.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF