CONCLUSION
chronic relationship distress
In conclusion, this study indicates that couples who benefit from two annual MCs can maintain some of these improvements in relationship health across long periods of time, while the ability to boost such improvements with a third MC was not clearly supported. Thus, improvements for couples assigned to a third MC were not statistically greater than the longitudinal effects seen for control couples who similarly benefitted from two MCs (between‐group effects). Our results could, however, point to the importance of further examination of the longitudinal booster effects of regular MCs in a larger sample, as the current study did not have power to detect small between group effect sizes. The average size of effects achieved from the MC model may not point to this intervention as a stand‐alone treatment for chronic relationship distress, but the current results point to the MC as a relevant and tolerable intervention that support couples in sustaining relationship functioning across longer periods of time. As such, the MC model should be considered as an integrated part of a more comprehensive public health strategy for preventing couple distress in the future.