The Comparative Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and an Integrated Approach of Schema Therapy Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Reduction of Divorce Tendency in Divorce Applicant Couples

Divorce is one of the most disturbing factors in human life. This study aimed to determine the comparative effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and an integrated approach of schema therapy based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on reduction of divorce tendency in divorce-seeking couples.

For this purpose, during quasi-experimental research in form of pretest-posttest and control group, 90 couples who referred to the intervention crisis center of Mashhad in winter 2019 with convenience method were selected and were assigned randomly being divided into three groups of 30 subjects were assigned to the experimental and control group. Experimental groups were educated by 12 sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy protocol and 10 sessions integrated protocol of Schema therapy based Acceptance and commitment therapy, and the control group was not under any intervention. All three groups were requested to answer Divorce Tendency Scale, and Data were analyzed using covariance analysis and SPSS software.

The results showed that both treatments have been significantly effective in reducing the divorce tendency in divorce applicant couples (P <0.01) but schema therapy based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was significantly more effective in reducing divorce tendency (P <0.01).

Since the divorce rate is increasing in our country, this therapeutic integrated approach can help couples to the reduction of divorce tendency.