The Effect of Group Reality Therapy on the Coping of Spouses of Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Low marital adjustment of the wives of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the challenges in the families that needs further help. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the group reality therapy on the coping of spouses of veterans suffering from PTSD in 2016.
In this quasi experimental study, 34 spouses of veterans with PTSD were selected and assigned into two groups of experimental and control (n = 17, each group) by simple random sampling. The group reality therapy intervention was performed in the experimental group for eight sessions (each session 90 minutes). To collect data, a demographic questionnaire and the “Lock-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test” were used. The validity and reliability of the test was determined in the previous study. Data were analyzed by the SPSS 16 software.
The marital coping before the intervention in the experimental group was 64.76 ± 22.58 and in the control group was 64 ± 19.28; the difference was not significant (P = 0.91). However, after the marital adjustment intervention, the marital coping in the intervention group was 81.76 ± 22.59 and in the control group was 65.3 ± 21.71, which showed a significant difference (P = 0.039).
The group reality therapy can increase the coping level of spouses of veterans with PTSD. Therefore, using this method is suggested to enhance the coping level of spouses of veterans.