The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management Training on Marital Commitment and Communication Beliefs in Mothers with Low Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral stress management training on marital commitment and communication beliefs in mothers with low marital satisfaction. This research was a quasi-experimental type and was implemented in the form of a pre-test-post-test-follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of mothers with low marital satisfaction in the 5th district of Tehran in 2022. Participants were 30 people, whom selected using the convenience sampling method, following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Before the intervention, both groups participated in the pre-test phase, and then the experimental group underwent cognitive behavioral stress management training in ten 60-minute sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Then both groups participated in the post-test phase and after 3 months the follow-up phase was done. To measure marital commitment, the standard marital commitment questionnaire of Adams and Jones (1997) was used, and for communication beliefs, the Eidelson and Epstein (1982) questionnaire was used. The data was analyzed using the mixed ANOVA by SPSS-24. The results indicated that stress management cognitive behavioral training had a significant effect on marital commitment (F=43.13, P<0.001) and communication beliefs (F=41.74, P<0.001). Overall, it can be concluded that marital commitment and communication beliefs of mothers with low marital satisfaction can be increased with cognitive behavioral stress management interventions.

Keywords

• cognitive behavioral training
• stress management
• marital commitment
• communication beliefs
• marital satisfaction