فهرست مطالب shabnam mohammadian

Anxiety can reduce the couples’ self-confidence and damage their mental health. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on anxiety, cognitive avoidance, and empathy among couples visiting counseling centers in Ahvaz City, Iran, in 2020. 

The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test design, follow-up, and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all couples with low marital adjustment who were referred to the psychological centers of Ahvaz in 2019. Using a convenience sampling method, 30 participants were selected and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (n=15 per group). The research instruments included the symptom checklist-90-revised, the cognitive avoidance questionnaire, and the basic empathy scale. The experimental group underwent eight 90-min sessions (one session per week) of ACT, and the control group did not receive any intervention. The follow-up was performed after 45 days. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data in SPSS. 

ACT effectively decreased anxiety and cognitive avoidance and increased empathy among couples in the experimental group (P<0.001). The Mean±SD pre-test and post-test scores of anxiety in the experimental group were 23.33±2.89 and 18.93±3.36, respectively, which decreased compared to the post-test mean score (24.27±2.96) of the control group. 

ACT decreased anxiety and cognitive avoidance and significantly increased empathy in married individuals. ACT can improve empathy in couples involved in marital conflicts.

Resilience, as a variable affecting couples’ relationships and resolving conflicts between them, plays an essential role in family psychology and family therapy.  

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, a control group, and a 45-day follow-up design. The statistical population included all couples with low marital adjustment who were referred to the psychological counseling centers of Ahvaz City, Iran, in 2020. Thirty participants were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups (n=15 couples/group). The necessary data were collected using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The schema therapy program was performed for the experimental group in eight 90-minute weekly sessions; however, the control group received no intervention. The follow-up phase was performed after 45 days. Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used in SPSS to analyze the obtained data.

Schema therapy effectively decreased anxiety and cognitive avoidance and increased resilience among couples in the experimental group (P<0.001). The Mean±SD post-test score of resilience was measured as 50.87±4.64 in the experimental group, which increased, compared to the post-test scores (43.33±5.71) in the control group.

Schema therapy decreased anxiety, cognitive avoidance, and significantly increased resilience in the examined couples. Schema therapy can be used to improve resilience in couples presenting marital conflicts.