A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Solution-Focused (Brief) Therapy on Couples Therapy (Iran, 2006 - 2017)

In Iran, many studies have examined the effectiveness of the solution-focused (brief) therapy (SFBT) approach in the field of couples therapy, but no study has evaluated the effectiveness of this approach in an integrated, cohesive way. Hence, it was decided to conduct this study using the meta-analysis method to calculate the magnitude of the effect of this approach on couples therapy. First, from among the studies in this field which qualified to be included in this study, twenty research works conducted during the years 2006 to 2017 were selected and analyzed using the meta-analysis method. The research instrument was a meta-analysis checklist developed by the researchers. The studies that had investigated the effectiveness of the solution-focused group-counseling on marital satisfaction, marital conflict, marital fatigue, marital adjustment and intimacy, marital tension, quality of spouses’ relationships, and marital disloyalty were selected to be included in this research work. The results showed a mean effect magnitude of = 1.1 which is indicative of a 59% effectiveness of solution-focused therapy on couples therapy. The results of the analyses indicate that solution-focused therapy is effective in settling marital problems, and the group treated using this kind of treatment showed a 59% improvement compared to the one who did not receive the treatment