Dataset Information

Efficacy of Emotionally Focused Therapy among Spanish-speaking couples: study protocol of a randomized clinical trial in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Couple relationship distress is common and associated with poor physical, psychological, and relational outcomes for both partners. Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples (EFT) is a short-term structured approach based on attachment theory that integrates a humanistic, experiential approach to restructuring emotional experience and a systemic structural approach to restructuring interactions. This model has been shown to be an effective treatment for couple distress. The supporting research, however, has only been conducted with English-speaking couples. Despite Spanish being the second-most spoken language and meaningful cultural differences between English- and Spanish-speaking countries, the efficacy of EFT has not been examined in this cultural context. This study will examine the efficacy of EFT in this particular context and advance the understanding of potential mechanisms of change.

Methods

We will use a multicenter randomized wait-list controlled design to examine the efficacy of EFT in a Spanish-speaking sample of moderately distressed couples. One hundred forty individuals in 70 couples in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain will be randomly assigned to receive 19-21 sessions of EFT or be placed on a waitlist. Outcomes on a range of relational and individual mental health variables will be assessed prior to random assignment, throughout treatment, and at the conclusion of treatment. Primary outcomes will include dyadic adjustment, couple satisfaction, and attachment. Secondary variables, such as loneliness, parenting, affective communication, and sexual satisfaction, will be included as potential mediators of the treatment effect. Couples in the treatment group will also be assessed at 3-, 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month follow-ups. Process variables such as the therapeutic alliance will also be assessed routinely in couples assigned to the treatment group. Couples in the waitlist will receive a psycho-educational program based on EFT after completing the study.

Discussion

This study will be the first RCT of Emotionally Focused Therapy in a Spanish-speaking context. The results of the study will inform researchers interested in whether treatments developed and tested in the USA and Canada can be effective in differing cultural contexts. It may also point researchers and clinicians to areas where cultural adaptation is needed to improve efficacy.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04277325. Registered on February 20, 2020.

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Gonzalez M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9587591 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Efficacy of Emotionally Focused Therapy among Spanish-speaking couples: study protocol of a randomized clinical trial in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain.

Rodríguez-Gonzalez Martiño M Anderson Shayne S Osorio Alfonso A Lafontaine Marie-France MF Greenman Paul S PS Calatrava María M Andrade Dania D Lybbert Ragan R Martínez-Diaz Pilar P Steffen Patrick P de Irala Jokin J Sandberg Jonathan J

Trials 20221022 1

<h4>Background</h4>Couple relationship distress is common and associated with poor physical, psychological, and relational outcomes for both partners. Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples (EFT) is a short-term structured approach based on attachment theory that integrates a humanistic, experiential approach to restructuring emotional experience and a systemic structural approach to restructuring interactions. This model has been shown to be an effective treatment for couple distress. The supp ...[more]

PMID: 36273180

Similar Datasets

Project description:Rationale: MicroRNAs have emerged as crucial post-transcriptional and network regulators in inflammatory diseases, including asthma. We hypothesized that peripheral blood miRNA would be associated with airflow obstruction in children with asthma, and that some of these effects would also be observable in adults with COPD. Methods: We analyzed small RNA-Seq data from 365 peripheral blood samples from the Genetics of Asthma in Costa Rica Study (GACRS). GACRS comprised children from the Central Valley of Costa Rica age 6-14 years with physician-diagnosed asthma and ≥2 respiratory symptoms or asthma attacks in the prior year. FEV1/FVC percent-predicted was dichotomized at 100%, splitting the cohort into those with and without evidence of airflow obstruction and used as our primary outcome. Differentially expressed (DE) miRs were identified using the DESeq2 package in R with a 10% FDR and adjustment for age, gender, and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use. We attempted to replicate the top airflow obstruction-associated microRNAs from the GACRS study in the COPDGene study, in which blood microRNA data were available in 439 current and former smoking adults with and without airflow obstruction (defined as raw FEV1/FVC < 0.7). Results: After QC, we had 361 samples and 649 miRs for DE analysis. Of the 361 samples, 220 and 141 were from subjects without and with airflow obstruction, respectively. We found 1 upregulated (let-7e-5p p=0.0004) and 2 downregulated (miR-342-3p p=0.0002; miR-671-5p p=0.0001) miRs in subjects with airflow obstruction compared to those without airflow obstruction. These three miRNAs were then tested for association with airflow obstruction in the COPDGene study, in which let-7e-5p was upregulated (p = 0.064) and miR-342-3p (p =0.085) was downregulated in participants with FEV1/FVC < 0.7 (n=196) compared to those with FEV1/FVC > 0.7 (n=243). Differentially expressed miR’s target genes were enriched for PI3K-Akt, Hippo, WNT, MAPK, and focal adhesion signaling pathways. We also separately considered the targets of only the two miRNAs that were also associated with FEV1/FVC in the adult current and former smokers, where PI3K-Akt, MAPK and Hippo signaling pathways were among the top five most enriched pathways. Conclusion: Three DE miRs were linked to airflow obstruction in children with asthma. Two miRs were associated with FEV1/FVC in current and former smoking adults. These miRs were involved in asthma and COPD-related pathways: PI3K-Akt, Hippo, MAPK, and focal adhesion signaling pathways. Together these findings provide important evidence that these two disorders may share genetic regulatory systems that contribute to airflow obstruction.

Dataset Information

Efficacy of Emotionally Focused Therapy among Spanish-speaking couples: study protocol of a randomized clinical trial in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain.

Background

Methods

Discussion

Trial registration

Publications

Efficacy of Emotionally Focused Therapy among Spanish-speaking couples: study protocol of a randomized clinical trial in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets