Comparison of the effectiveness of Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotion-focused therapy on cognitive fusion and sexual intimacy in married women with obsessive-compulsive disorder

The purpose of this study was to comparison of the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotion-focused therapy on cognitive fusion and sexual intimacy in married women with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The research design was experimental with pre-test and post-test and control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all married female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who had referred to one of the counseling centers and psychological and psychiatric services for treatment in Parsabad city of Ardabil province between July and September 2021. 45 of them were located by purposive sampling method and randomly divided into groups receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy based on the Internet (n= 15), emotion-focused therapy (n= 15) and the control group (n= 15). Data collection tools were: Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Scale, Gilanders et al. Cognitive Fusion Scale, and the Bagarozi Intimacy Needs Questionnaire. Each treatment was performed in 8 weekly sessions and the control group did not receive any specific treatment during this period. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results showed that Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotion-focused therapy were effective on cognitive fusion and sexual intimacy in married women with obsessive-compulsive disorder (P<0.05) and there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of these two therapies. (P>0.05). The results have potentially significant practical effects for specialists and therapists to pay attention to the effectiveness of the treatment methods used to improve the consequences of obsessive-compulsive disorder.