The effect of group cognitive‑behavioral counseling on optimism and self‑esteem of women during the 1st month of marriage that referring to marriage counseling center

Quality of relationship marital status affects all aspects of family functioning, including sustainability of cohabit living, supporting children, and happiness of couples. This study was conducted to examine the effect of group cognitive‑behavioral counseling on optimism and self‑esteem of women during the 1st month of marriage that referring to marriage counseling center.

A semi‑experimental study was designed by a test, posttest, and follow‑up. Participants consisted of 30 women admitted to premarriage counseling center of Farsan city in 2018 with using purposive sampling by random numbers’ table into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in eight consecutive 2‑h group counseling sessions. Data collection tools were demographic questionnaire, Rosenberg’s Self‑Esteem Scale, and optimism designed by Mir Ahmadi (reliability and validity are calculated and was 0.96) and completed in three rounds. Women’s self‑esteem retested was done after 1 month. Data were analyzed with independent t‑test and repeated measures ANOVA (significance level <0.005). Quantitative variables were analyzed using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test.

There were no significant differences between optimism scores in the experimental (M = 150.47, standard deviation [SD] = 22.07) and control groups (M = 149.2, SD = 21.54) prior to intervention (P = 0.875). The mean optimism score was significantly different in intervention (M = 169.33, SD = 17.01) and control (M = 147.2, SD = 22.22) groups immediately after counseling (P = 0.005) and 1 month after counseling (P = 0.002, M = 171.08, SD = 17.98). The mean self‑esteem scores were statistically significant in both groups immediately after counseling (P = 0.023, I: M = 37.06, SD = 8.69, C: M = 31.4, SD = 4.83) and 1 month after counseling (P = 0.028, I: M = 34.73, SD = 4.93, C: M = 30.06, SD = 4.8).

Cognitive‑behavioral counseling enhances women’s optimism by emphasizing the training of communication and conflict resolution skills, which leads to positive attitude and life satisfaction. Therefore, using cognitive‑behavioral counseling in marriage counseling sessions can improve couples’ relationships.