Non-violent communication and marital relationship: efficacy of ‘emotion-focused couples’ communication program among filipino couples.
Psychological Studies, 62, 275-283., 2017
Vazhappilly, J. J., & Reyes, M. E. S.
DOI : 10.1007/s12646-017-0420-z
Full article : link
Abstract: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention programme
to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention programme, Emotion-Focused Couples Communication Programme (EFCCP) in a Filipino context. EFCCP is an intervention programme developed by researchers on the basis of NVC concepts. This study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of the shortened version of the programme in the Filipino context. The Relational Communication Scale and the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test Scale were used to measure couples’ levels of communication and marital satisfaction. The short version of the EFCCP was used with a group of 12 couples over a 3-week period.
Comment: There is no control group in this study, so it is not possible to determine whether the changes in score are due to the EFCCP or simply the passage of time or being part of a group of couples for 3 weeks. It would have been ideal if a control group had undergone further training on marital problems, to be able to distinguish the specific effects of the NVC. In addition, the subjects were tested with explicit questionnaires about their experiences as a couple, which may create a bias in the declaration, with a tendency to want to improve the results, for example, by using the questionnaire.
Perspective: It would be relevant to evaluate the effects of this training with a control group, with more participants and at 6 months, for example, to measure the longer-term impact. In addition, implicit tests should be used to avoid complacency bias.