Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Pilot Study Examining The Role Of Treatment Type And Gender In Cortisol Functioning, Stephanie Young Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study examined the effectiveness of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) compared to Treatment As Usual (TAU) in improving cortisol functioning among distressed couples. It also investigated the role of gender in cortisol functioning. Measures for cortisol were collected at five time points, both at pre- and posttreatment. Data were collected from a total of 60 couples, 20 of which received EFT and 40 of which received TAU. Overall, results from a two-way analysis of variance suggest that there are no significant differences between men or women, nor among couples in EFT and TAU, in posttreatment cortisol functioning. Directions …