Citation

Foran HM, Whisman MA, Beach SR. Fam. Process 2015; 54(1): 48-63.

Affiliation

Institute for Psychology, University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Family Process Institute, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/famp.12122

PMID

25582661

Abstract

Over the past 40 years, a large body of literature has documented intimate partner relationship distress as a primary reason for seeking mental health services as well as an integral factor in the prognosis and treatment of a range of mental and physical health conditions. In recognition of its relevance to clinical care, the description of intimate partner relationship distress has been expanded in the DSM-5. Nonetheless, this is irrelevant if the DSM-5 code for intimate partner relationship distress is not reliably used in clinical practice and research settings. Thus, with the goal of dissemination in mind, the purpose of this paper was to provide clinicians and researchers with specific guidelines on how to reliably assess intimate partner relationship distress and how this information can be used to inform treatment planning. In addition to the implications for direct clinical care, we discuss the importance of reliable assessment and documentation of intimate partner relationship distress for future progress in epidemiology, etiology, and public health research.

Language: en