Do treatments for mental disorders affect relationship satisfaction? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Psychiatric disorders have been linked to poor social functioning, including deficits in relationship satisfaction. Treatments have shown strong effectiveness in reducing clinical symptoms for a range of disorders, though less is known of the effects disorder-focused treatments have on relationship satisfaction.

Methods: The present study describes a systematic review that was conducted to determine the efficacy of treatments for specific psychiatric disorders in improving relationship satisfaction. Surprisingly, only seventeen studies were identified and included in the review.

Results: We found that a majority of these studies reported modest improvement in relationship satisfaction among people who completed treatment. However, studies were severely hampered by methodological limitations, and all therapy-related improvements could be attributable to placebo effects or the passage of time.

Conclusion: Important gaps in the literature were found that future research should seek to address to maximize treatment outcomes and psychosocial functioning.