Comparison the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy on the Quality of Life and Tendency to Betray in Married Students with Tendency to Infidelity

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and compassion-focused therapy (CFT) on quality of life (QOL) and infidelity tendency in infidelity-prone married students. This is a quasi-experimental research project with an expanded research design. The statistical population consisted of married students studying at the Islamic Azad University, Sirjan Branch in the 2018-2019 academic year. Using convenience sampling, 45 people were selected and randomly divided into three groups of 15 people (i.e., two experimental groups and one control group). The first group received ACT and the second group received CFT. Data were collected using The World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) (1996) and Attitudes toward Infidelity Scale (ATIS) (Whathley, 2006). Data were analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test. The results showed that both therapies were effective on QOL and its dimensions except for environmental health (p≤0.05). Moreover, according to the findings, CFT was more effective than ACT in terms of physical health and, conversely, ACT was more effective than CFT in terms of mental health and social communication. Furthermore, the results showed a positive effect of both therapies on infidelity tendency in the statistical sample (p≤0.05). Meanwhile, ACT was more effective than CFT. Therefore, the use of both therapies improves the couple’s QOL level as well as reducing their tendency to infidelity.