Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy in Marital Burnout, Marital Forgiveness, and Communication Styles of Couples Affected by Extramarital Relationships

Extramarital affairs or marital infidelity can be considered one of the most complex and traumatic emotional problems between couples.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotion-focused couple therapy in burnout, marital forgiveness, and communication styles of couples affected by extramarital relationships.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on an applied research method and pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all people referred to counseling centers in Sari, Iran, with extramarital affairs between April and June 2020. The study sample consisted of 30 individuals selected by convenient sampling method and randomly divided into an experimental (emotion-focused couple therapy; n=15) and a control group (n=15). The data were collected using the Couple Burnout Measure (CBM), Forgiveness Questionnaire, and Communication Styles Questionnaire. Subsequently, the obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) through univariate analysis of covariance.

The findings showed that emotion-focused couple therapy had a statistically significant effect on the subjects regarding the Mutual Constructive Communication (F=7.64; P<0.001), Expectant Male/Female Sidetaker (F=74.18; P<0.001), Expectant Female/Male Sidetaker (F=47.11; P<0.001), Mutual Avoidance Communication (F=59.97; P<0.001), Forgiveness (F=80.15; P<0.001) and Marital Boredom (F=347.92; P<0.001).

It can be concluded that emotion-focused couple therapy was effective in burnout, marital forgiveness, and communication styles of couples affected by extramarital relationships.