The effectiveness of Integrative Couple Therapy via Diamond Method on the Quality of Marital Sexual Relationship and Parental Stress in Couples with Children under Three Years’ Old

The transition to parenting period is often accompanied by experiencing joy and fun; however, this stage leads to many changes that may affect individual and marital functions. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of integrated couple therapy via diamond method on the quality of marital sexual relationship and parental stress in couples with very young children.

The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The study population was all couples with children less than 3 years’ old who had referred to counseling centers in the city of Behbahan during the year 2020. The sample consisted of 20 couples who were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (10 pairs in each group). The members of the experimental group received six 90-minute sessions of the integrative couple therapy via diamond method. Data collection tools included Quality of Marital Sexuality Scale and Parental Stress Scale. Data were analyzed by multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance statistixal method.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the two study groups in the variables of marital sexual relationship quality and parental stress. This indicates that the integrated couple therapy with diamond method increases the quality of marital sexual relationship (F=485.944, P<0.05) and reduces parental stress (F=274.647, P<0.05) in couples with very young children.