Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion-Oriented Schema Therapy and Transactional Analysis on Communication Beliefs of Marital Conflicts

Abstract

Aim and Background: This study compares emotion-oriented schema therapy and transactional analysis's effectiveness in addressing marital conflict communication beliefs, aiming to improve effectiveness and reduce recovery time. Methods and Materials: The research method is semi-experimental, with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group with a follow-up stage. The statistical population of this research consisted of all couples who referred to Abadan counseling centers and Abadan judicial service offices in 2022. The statistical sample consisted of 30 couples who were randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group based on the criteria for entering the research. The research tool was Eidelson and Epstein (1982) Communication Beliefs Questionnaire. Research protocols included emotional schema therapy written by Leahy, Tirch and Napolitano (2011) and interactional behavior analysis by Eric Byrne (2011). Multivariate covariance analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test were performed using SPSS version 26 statistical software at a significance level of 0.05 for data analysis. Findings: The findings show that in the groups of emotion-oriented schema therapy and transactional analysis, there is a significant difference in all variable components of communication beliefs in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up phases (p≤0.05), but There is no significant difference in between the post-test and follow-up (p≥0.05). Also, there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups in the post-tests and follow-up group comparison (p≥0.05); But there is a significant difference between the control group and the two experimental groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: According to the results of the research, it can be said that both treatments are effective on the variable of communication beliefs and its components in couples with marital conflict.

Keywords

• emotion-oriented schema therapy
• interaction analysis
• communication beliefs
• marital conflicts
• couples.