Volume 10 -
MEJDS (2020) 10: 189 |
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1- Department of Psychology, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University
2- Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan
2- Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan
Abstract: (1542 Views)
Background & Objectives: Marital infidelity is a threatening factor in the functioning, stability, and continuity of marital relationships. Furthermore, in most cases, marital infidelity causes divorce and leaves numerous individuals with mental and emotional problems. The affected population’s community–level activities are more inefficient, negative, or at least ineffective than the general population. Additionally, marital frustration and a gradual decline in attachment to the spouse are coupled with the feelings of alienation, indifference, and disinterest to couples, leading to replacing negative emotions with positive ones, eventually causing anger and violence. Therefore, forgiveness is considered to be effective in resolving conflicts and increasing marital satisfaction; in intimate relationships, it promotes empathy in couples. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the effects of Emotion–Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) on burnout and forgiveness of married women’s online marital infidelity.
Methods: This was a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest and a control group design. The research community consisted of all married women with online marital infidelity referring to counseling centers in Isfahan City, Iran, in 2018. The study sample consisted of 30 married women who met the inclusion criteria of the study and were selected by random sampling method. The study participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (n=15/group). The inclusion criteria of the present study were as follows: an age range of 20–45 years; having lived with the spouse for at least one year; not having an acute psychological condition [obtaining a score higher than the cut–off point (>24) in the Mental Health Questionnaire; Goldberg et al., 1997)], and online marital infidelity experienced by women. The exclusion criteria of the study included unwillingness to continue treatment sessions and disruption during meetings (deviation from the main topic). To observe the study participants’ privacy, their names and surnames were not recorded. We also obtained written informed consent forms from all study participants. Both study groups completed the Marital Burnout Questionnaire (Pinez, 1996) and the Interpersonal Forgiveness Questionnaire (Ehteshamzadeh et al., 2009). The experimental group received 9 sessions of EFCT developed by Johnson (2007). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean & standard deviation) and inferential statistics, including Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS at the significance level of 0.05.
Results: The current study results suggested that the experimental groups’ mean scores of marital burnouts and its components (physical, emotional, mental) (p<0.001) as well as the mean scores of forgiveness and its components (controlling resentment, realistic understanding) (p<0.001) were significantly lower in the posttest stage than the mean scores of burnouts and its components and higher than the mean scores of forgiveness scores and its components, compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, counseling through EFCT played an essential role in reducing marital burnout and forgiveness of married women’s online marital infidelity.
Methods: This was a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest and a control group design. The research community consisted of all married women with online marital infidelity referring to counseling centers in Isfahan City, Iran, in 2018. The study sample consisted of 30 married women who met the inclusion criteria of the study and were selected by random sampling method. The study participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (n=15/group). The inclusion criteria of the present study were as follows: an age range of 20–45 years; having lived with the spouse for at least one year; not having an acute psychological condition [obtaining a score higher than the cut–off point (>24) in the Mental Health Questionnaire; Goldberg et al., 1997)], and online marital infidelity experienced by women. The exclusion criteria of the study included unwillingness to continue treatment sessions and disruption during meetings (deviation from the main topic). To observe the study participants’ privacy, their names and surnames were not recorded. We also obtained written informed consent forms from all study participants. Both study groups completed the Marital Burnout Questionnaire (Pinez, 1996) and the Interpersonal Forgiveness Questionnaire (Ehteshamzadeh et al., 2009). The experimental group received 9 sessions of EFCT developed by Johnson (2007). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean & standard deviation) and inferential statistics, including Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS at the significance level of 0.05.
Results: The current study results suggested that the experimental groups’ mean scores of marital burnouts and its components (physical, emotional, mental) (p<0.001) as well as the mean scores of forgiveness and its components (controlling resentment, realistic understanding) (p<0.001) were significantly lower in the posttest stage than the mean scores of burnouts and its components and higher than the mean scores of forgiveness scores and its components, compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, counseling through EFCT played an essential role in reducing marital burnout and forgiveness of married women’s online marital infidelity.
Keywords: Emotion–Focused couple therapy, Marital burnout, Forgiveness, Married women, Online marital infidelity.
Type of Study: Original Research Article |
Subject:
Counseling
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