Worcester, Mass. - James Córdova, associate professor of psychology, was recently awarded a five-year grant totaling more than $1 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant—the second largest faculty research grant ever received by a Clark professor—supports Córdova's research on "Indicated Treatment and Prevention of Marital Deterioration in At-Risk Couples." The grant runs through 2011, with $221,638 in the first year.Córdova, who joined the Clark faculty in 2002, is currently using the grant to study the efficacy of an intervention he developed called the Marriage Checkup. The Marriage Checkup is designed to help couples learn more about the health of their marriage and whether their relationship is showing any early signs of common marital health problems. Professor Córdova has been running pilot subjects in recent weeks.
"The goal of the Marriage Checkup is to help couples identify strengths and weaknesses early, before the strengths erode and the weaknesses corrode the foundations of their marriages," Cordova explains.
In the face of high marriage failure rates, this research has widespread implications. For example, the risk of divorce for first marriages is estimated at approximately 50 percent and at approximately 60 percent for second marriages. Cordova notes that although there are relationship education programs for premarital and newlywed couples and many approaches to marital therapy, few couples take advantage of the former and the latter is often too little, too late. In fact, he adds, although marital therapy has been proven effective, only a small percentage of unhealthy couples ever pursue it.
The Marriage Checkup, on the other hand, is akin to a dental checkup or physical health checkup and is available to all couples, regardless of how long they have been together or how healthy or unhealthy their marriage may be currently.
"We assess the health of their marriage based on the latest scientific research and give the couple feedback about their strengths and weaknesses," Cordova says. "The goal is to catch any emerging marital health issues early enough that they don't cause any permanent damage and early enough that the couple can likely improve their marital health on their own, without the need for costly treatment or even costlier divorce."
Through the Marriage Checkup, he adds, couples can also learn about other marriage health practices to increase the health and resiliency of their marriages and families. With the support of the NIH, Cordova is able to conduct the largest and most rigorous test of the marriage checkup, which will provide the evidence needed to determine whether the Marriage Checkup works well enough to be used more widely by the general public.