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Abstract

Objectives: The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a form of family therapy developed in Korea. The “Thank you – Sorry – Love” (TSL) model was applied to a group of elderly retired men to improve the quality of their marriage and to reduce their stress. Methods: Thirty married retired Korean men were assigned to three groups. Group 1 received 14 sessions over 7 weeks of the TSL intervention. Group 2 received 14 sessions of educational classes related to retirement and aging. Group 3 received nothing. Assessments were made of the men’s marital quality (using the Dyadic Adjustment scale) and oxidative stress (a biological marker of health), pretreatment, posttreatment, and 5 weeks after treatment. The husbands’ wives were assessed in terms of marital quality at similar time points. Results: Husbands who received TSL therapy experienced statistically significant decreased oxidative stress (8-isoprostane levels) and increased marital quality. The spouses of the TSL program participants also showed statistically significant improvement in marital quality. The educational comparison group and no-treatment control group clients did not significantly improve on either measure, nor did their spouses experience improved marital quality. Conclusions: TSL family therapy was followed by both psychosocial (husbands and wives’) and physiological (husbands’) improvements. Additional randomized clinical trials of this promising family therapy may be warranted.

Keywords

TSL family therapy marital quality oxidative stress elderly men retirement

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TSL Family Therapy Followed by Improved Marital Quality and Reduced Oxidative Stress

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