مجله دانشگاه علوم پزشکی گرگان (Jan 2021)
Effectiveness of emotion- focused couple therapy on the performance component of couples: A clinical trial study
Abstract
Background and Objective: Performance and interactions of the couples having important roles in family sustainability. This study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on the performance component of couples referring to counseling centers. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 28 couples with marital problems were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. Subjects had score lower than the cut-off point (120 points) using McMaster Family Assessment Device. Subjects in experimental group participated in ten sessions of an hour and a half of the emotion-focused therapy. Pre-test, post-test and one month follow-up were performed for each subject. Results: The therapy had impact on increasing all of the performance components of couples, and the survival of the effect of treatment was evident in one month follow up. There was a significant difference between the scores of the two groups in all of the components of the post-test variable of family functioning (P<0.05). The difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of couples in the test group was 20.536±4.842 (P<0.05) and post-test-follow-up was 1.286±4.487. Also, the effectiveness of emotional therapy in components, general functioning of couples, affective responsiveness, behavior control, communication, problem solving, roles, and affective Involvement, significantly were remarkable. Conclusion: The emotion-focused therapy intervention has a significant role in changing the components of couple’s performance. Therapists can use this approach in educational centers and counseling to help couples seeking divorce and incompatibility to improve the reduction of marital problems and increase their satisfaction and improve the general functioning of couples, affective responsiveness, behavior control, communication, problem solving, roles, and affective Involvement.
