Comparing the Effects of Glaser's Reality Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy on Relationship Quality and Marital Satisfaction in Betrayed Women

Family life is tied to numerous threats that could destroy it. One of these dangers is marital infidelity, which generates multiple problems and has diverse psychological effects on the affected individuals. One of the most significant impacts of marital infidelity is declined relationship quality and marital satisfaction; this condition could lead to the collapse of marital life and divorce if not intervened promptly. Therefore, it is required to design and select therapies to prevent the harmful effects of infidelity on families. Accordingly, this study aimed to compare the effects of Glasserchr('39')s Reality Therapy (RT) and Emotion–Focused Therapy (EFT) on betrayed women. 

This was a quasi–experimental study with two experimental groups and one control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all betrayed married women who referred to the counseling centers of the Welfare Organization of Tehran City, Iran, in 2017. The study sample included 45 individuals. In the first step, sampling was conducted by a multistage cluster sampling method. Then, the study subjects were randomly selected from 5 districts (2, 7, 11, 16, 21) out of the 22 districts of Tehran. Then, 2 counseling centers were randomly selected from each of the selected regions. Besides, 45 betrayed women were selected by random sampling method and were randomly assigned to either one of the experimental groups 1 and 2, or the control group (n=15/group). Each experimental group received 8 sessions of Glasserchr('39')s RT or EFT. The research instruments included the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) (Busby et al., 1995), ENRICH Marriage Satisfaction Questionnaire (Olson et al., 1982), RT protocol (Abbasi et al., 2017), and EFT protocol (Bahrami et al., 2009). All study groups, before and after the end of the sessions and intervention, complemented the questionnaires. Finally, marital satisfaction and marital quality scores were compared. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS by Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA).

The ANCOVA results indicated a significant difference in the scores of marital satisfaction and quality of marital relationships in both test groups, compared to the controls (p<0.001). The Eta squared value suggested that approximately 74% and 84% of the variance of the scores of quality of marital relations and marital satisfaction were respectively explained by the difference between the two provided interventions. Due to the significant difference between the posttest scores in the experimental and control groups, a two–way study of the significant difference between the three posttest scores of marital relationship quality and marital satisfaction was performed through pairwise comparisons (mean difference; primary–secondary) by Fisherchr('39')s Least Significant Difference (LSD) posthoc test. The LSD test data revealed no significant difference between the effects of Glaserchr('39')s RT and EFT on the quality of marital relationships in the posttest phase (p=0.374). However, there was a significant difference between the efficacy of RT and EFT on marital satisfaction at the posttest (p<0.001). 

EFT helps improve the damage of infidelity by alleviating attachment defects and regulating emotions. Moreover, RT provides such effects by emphasizing personal responsibility and recognizing the individual’s needs.