Observation of couple conflicts: Clinical assessment applications, stubborn truths, and shaky foundations.

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to provide a balanced examination of the published research involving the observation of couples, with special attention toward the use of observation for clinical assessment.All published articles that (a) used an observational coding system and (b) relate to the validity of the coding system are summarized in a table.The psychometric properties of observational systems and the use of observation in clinical practice are discussed.Although advances have been made in understanding couple conflict through the use of observation, the review concludes with an appeal to the field to develop constructs in a psychometrically and theoretically sound manner.For couples observation research, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of gained wisdom, it was the age of media foolishness, it was results deserving of belief, it was results deserving of incredulity, it was the Light of theory, it was the Darkness of data mining, it was the spring of hope for science, it was the winter of despair for science, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Stockholm for the Nobel, we were all going direct the other way-in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. 1 Considering the paradoxes inherent in following the developments of couples observation research, making sense of nearly 200 studies and what they purportedly show is an incredibly daunting task.Charles Dickens wrote [most] of the first paragraph in 1859, over 100 years before the first couples observation study, and thus it speaks more to humans' perceptions of their endeavors in general than to this field's paradoxes in particular.In our period of family stress and divorce, there is intense media and public interest in understanding, treating, and preventing marital discord.Unfortunately, in our period of soundbites and factoids, the ability of the "noisiest authorities [to] insist on [their work] being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only" (Dickens, 1859, p. 1) only serves to convince both the public and many professionals that we know far more than we do, that our theories have received more support than they have, and that our methodology is more robust than it is.One cannot read the nearly 200 studies and not be impressed at the advances of the field, nor can one turn on the television and not be dismayed at the distorted presentations of some of the very same studies.The purpose of this review is to provide a balanced examination of the published research involving the observation of couples, with special attention toward the use of observation for clinical assessment.