The Effectiveness of Group Therapy Based on Acceptance and Commitment on Metacognitive Beliefs and Psychological Flexibility of Women Damaged by Marital Infidelity

While marital relationship can be a source of many pleasurable experiences, it can also bring about the most painful experiences. In this regard, marital infidelity is one of the negative experiences related to married life. This is a topic that has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent decades and is known as the most harmful experience related to married life. Studies indicate the need to pay attention to the extent of the phenomenon of marital infidelity. In fact, marital infidelity can have far-reaching negative consequences, such as anger towards oneself and onechr('39')s spouse, feelings of embarrassment, loss of trust, loss of identity and sense of specialness, decreased purposefulness, interpersonal problems, decreased self-esteem, mental health problems, guilt and depression for the betrayed person. These injuries can be more prominent in women. This issue indicates the need to examine the dimensions related to marital infidelity and provide interventions to deal with its negative consequences in women affected by infidelity. In this regard, there is evidence of a prominent relationship between cognitive and metacognitive beliefs as well as cognitive flexibility with the experience of marital infidelity. Given the relationship between metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility to marital infidelity, interventions to improve these abilities in women damaged by marital infidelity are essential. In this regard, cognitive interventions, and specifically treatment based on acceptance and commitment, are very useful for women affected by marital infidelity. In fact, acceptance and commitment interventions emphasize cognitive components and aim to change dysfunctional cognitions. In this regard, acceptance and commitment therapy can be considered as an effective intervention to improve the metacognitive beliefs and psychological resilience of women affected by infidelity. A subject that has received few specific studies. Overall, given the relatively high prevalence of marital infidelity, the negative consequences of infidelity, the need for psychological interventions, the ineffectiveness of many intervention programs, and limited interventional studies, providing an effective intervention for victims of infidelity, especially women as the more vulnerable group is very much needed. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment on metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility of women damaged by marital infidelity.

The present study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population included all women damaged by marital infidelity who referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Sangar in 2018. Among them, 30 women were selected by convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned to experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. The data collection tools included demographic questionnaire, Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ-30; Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004), and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II; Bond et al., 2011). Acceptance and commitment group therapy was administered to the experimental groups in 8 sessions of 2 hours weekly. Finally, the data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results indicated that the acceptance and commitment group therapy significantly affect metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility (p<0.01).

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment on metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility of women damaged by marital infidelity. According to the findings of the study, group therapy based on acceptance and commitment was able to affect the metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility of women damaged by marital infidelity and improve their metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility. In explaining this issue, it can be acknowledged that the acceptance and commitment intervention in the present study, by emphasizing cognitive processes such as connection with the present, committed actions and acceptance, could bring about positive changes in the metacognitive structure of women damaged by marital infidelity. Through learning the acceptance process, participants learned to accept events and thoughts completely and without defense, as they are. In other words, they were taught that although their situation is sensitive and distressing, they should not prevent negative thoughts from entering their minds, but should be able to show the best performance by accepting these thoughts. The other component was self-observation. Participants found that they should perceive thoughts as they are and in a pure form and look at thoughts as a phrase or an image or a form, not as a consistent concept. That is, thoughts should not be described based on analysis, judgment, evaluation, and belief, so that it is possible to separate thoughts. The intervention also improved metacognitive beliefs through its effects on uncontrollability, the risk of negative thoughts, cognitive conflict, and positive beliefs about worry. In addition, the intervention program improved psychological flexibility, that is, staying connected to the present moment despite unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and physical conditions, so that behaviors are selected based on personal situation and values. Based on the results of the present study, acceptance and commitment group therapy can reduce negative consequence of marital infidelity and increase adjustment in women damaged by marital infidelity by enhancing their metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility. Therefore, it is recommended to increase adjustment in women damaged by marital infidelity.