Ethics code: IR.IAU.SDJ.REC.1403.162
Abstract: (19 Views)
Background and Objective: Divorce has become a prevalent phenomenon in contemporary societies. Official statistics in Iran also reflect a significant increase in the divorce rate in recent years. The dissolution of marriage through divorce can lead to considerable short-term and long-term consequences, adversely affecting the quality of life and psychological well-being of divorced women who are heads of households. Consequently, identifying and implementing effective educational and therapeutic interventions for this population is of considerable importance and priority. Among available interventions, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) has gained recognition as a psychological treatment with robust empirical support. Although the efficacy of EFT in enhancing post-divorce adjustment has been established, limited research has explored the application of group-based Emotionally Focused Therapy specifically for divorced female heads of household. Moreover, a notable gap exists in understanding the intervention's effects on key variables such as acceptance and action, and positive and negative affect within this demographic. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the effectiveness of Emotionally Focused Therapy on post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive and negative affect among divorced women who are heads of households.
Methods: The research method was a quasi–experimental type of pretest–posttest and a two–month follow–up design with a control group. The study population consisted of all divorced women who had been referred to the Marivan City Judiciary Counseling Center since 2022-2023. From this population, 30 eligible volunteers were selected via purposive sampling and were then randomly assigned to either an Emotionally Focused Therapy (experimental) group or a control group (15 participants per group). The inclusion criteria were as follows: voluntary consent to participate and completion of an informed consent form; age between 20 and 50 years; being the head of the household; having entered into marital cohabitation following a formal marriage contract; and possession of an official divorce decree. Exclusion criteria included: diagnosis of a specific psychological disorder; receiving psychotherapy after the divorce; substance or alcohol dependence; remarriage after the divorce; withdrawal or expressed unwillingness to continue participation; absence from more than two sessions; and illiteracy. The instruments used were Fisher's Divorce Adjustment Scale (2005), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (Bond et al., 2011), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson et al., 1988). The experimental group received nine 120‑minute sessions of Emotionally Focused Therapy based on a protocol adapted from Mirzazadeh et al.'s study, while the control group received no intervention. Prior to the intervention, a pretest was administered to both groups, wherein participants completed the aforementioned questionnaires. Following the treatment phase, a posttest was conducted in both groups. Two months after the intervention sessions concluded, all participants were reassessed using the same instruments as a follow‑up measurement. This study adhered to ethical research standards, including obtaining voluntary informed consent from all participants and ensuring the confidentiality and anonymity of their data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics, specifically, repeated‑measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post‑hoc tests, with a significance level of 0.05 in SPSS, version 24.
Results: The results showed significant effects of group, time, and group × time interaction on post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive and negative affect variables (p<0.001). Based on the effect size calculation, the group factor explained 60%, 31%, and 20% of the variance in the changes for the aforementioned variables, respectively. Additionally, in the experimental group, the difference in the mean scores of post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive and negative affect variables between the pretest and both the posttest and follow up was significant (p<0.001). Furthermore, the comparison of post-test and follow-up scores showed a significant difference for post-divorce adjustment variable (p < .001) and for positive and negative affect variable (p = .025), indicating that the intervention's effect on these variables was sustained during the 2-month follow-up period. However, for the variable of acceptance and action, no significant difference was observed between the post-test and follow-up scores.
Conclusion: According to the findings, Emotion-Focused Therapy is effective in increasing post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive affect in divorced women who are heads of household. Therefore, it is suggested that Emotion-Focused Therapy, along with other psychological interventions, be utilized as an effective approach to improving post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive affect.
Methods: The research method was a quasi–experimental type of pretest–posttest and a two–month follow–up design with a control group. The study population consisted of all divorced women who had been referred to the Marivan City Judiciary Counseling Center since 2022-2023. From this population, 30 eligible volunteers were selected via purposive sampling and were then randomly assigned to either an Emotionally Focused Therapy (experimental) group or a control group (15 participants per group). The inclusion criteria were as follows: voluntary consent to participate and completion of an informed consent form; age between 20 and 50 years; being the head of the household; having entered into marital cohabitation following a formal marriage contract; and possession of an official divorce decree. Exclusion criteria included: diagnosis of a specific psychological disorder; receiving psychotherapy after the divorce; substance or alcohol dependence; remarriage after the divorce; withdrawal or expressed unwillingness to continue participation; absence from more than two sessions; and illiteracy. The instruments used were Fisher's Divorce Adjustment Scale (2005), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (Bond et al., 2011), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson et al., 1988). The experimental group received nine 120‑minute sessions of Emotionally Focused Therapy based on a protocol adapted from Mirzazadeh et al.'s study, while the control group received no intervention. Prior to the intervention, a pretest was administered to both groups, wherein participants completed the aforementioned questionnaires. Following the treatment phase, a posttest was conducted in both groups. Two months after the intervention sessions concluded, all participants were reassessed using the same instruments as a follow‑up measurement. This study adhered to ethical research standards, including obtaining voluntary informed consent from all participants and ensuring the confidentiality and anonymity of their data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics, specifically, repeated‑measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post‑hoc tests, with a significance level of 0.05 in SPSS, version 24.
Results: The results showed significant effects of group, time, and group × time interaction on post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive and negative affect variables (p<0.001). Based on the effect size calculation, the group factor explained 60%, 31%, and 20% of the variance in the changes for the aforementioned variables, respectively. Additionally, in the experimental group, the difference in the mean scores of post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive and negative affect variables between the pretest and both the posttest and follow up was significant (p<0.001). Furthermore, the comparison of post-test and follow-up scores showed a significant difference for post-divorce adjustment variable (p < .001) and for positive and negative affect variable (p = .025), indicating that the intervention's effect on these variables was sustained during the 2-month follow-up period. However, for the variable of acceptance and action, no significant difference was observed between the post-test and follow-up scores.
Conclusion: According to the findings, Emotion-Focused Therapy is effective in increasing post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive affect in divorced women who are heads of household. Therefore, it is suggested that Emotion-Focused Therapy, along with other psychological interventions, be utilized as an effective approach to improving post-divorce adjustment, acceptance and action, and positive affect.
Keywords: Emotion-Focused Therapy, Post-Divorce Adjustment, Acceptance and Action, Positive and Negative affect, Divorced women as heads of household
Type of Study: Original Research Article |
Subject:
Psychology
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