Depression and Life Expectancy in Women Affected by Marital Infidelity: a Comparison of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Considering the alarming increase in the statistics of infidelity and divorce, this research was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on depression and life expectancy of women affected by marital infidelity. This research was a semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of women affected by marital infidelity in Tabriz in 1401. 45 participants were selected by purposeful sampling method and placed in three groups (15/group). The experimental groups received the treatment specific to their group in 8 sessions. The measurement tools included Beck's depression and Schneider's life expectancy questionnaires. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance and post-hoc Bonferroni test. The results showed that both treatments reduced depression and increased the life expectancy of women affected by marital infidelity in the post-test compared to the control group (P<0.001). Also, the effect of treatments on depression and life expectancy of women affected by marital infidelity in the post-test stage was not statistically different. The results proved that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy can reduce depression and increase the life expectancy of women affected by marital infidelity.