Investigating the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Marital Conflicts of Coronary Artery Bypass Patients

Adequate reduction of marital conflicts in cardiovascular disease patients helps them cope better with their conditions, as well as improve their quality of life. The aim of this empirical study was to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on marital conflicts in cardiac patients with a history of coronary artery bypass. The method of this research was semi-experimental with pre- and post-test with a control group. Participants were 30 patients, who were selected through convenience sampling. Participants administered the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (Sanai, Alaghband, Falahati, & Hooman, 2009) as pre- and post-test. Finally, 30 individuals who had the highest scores in the marital conflict questionnaire were selected and randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control (n=15). To analyze the data, the ANCOVA test was used. The findings of this study indicated that there was a statistically significant effect on the experimental group on the following sub-scales: decreased cooperation, dividing financial affairs and marital conflict. It could be concluded that ACT-based training intervention was effective of the above-mentioned subscales and could be used to reduce marital conflicts in patients with patients with a history of coronary artery bypass. This study indicates the importance of education, as well as psychological interventions as an essential part of the recovery process.