The effectiveness of schema-based cognitive therapy on cognitive fatigue and the quality of marital relationships of married women in Amol city

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, the quality of marital relationships and cognitive fatigue is a concept widely used in family and marital studies. Objective: The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of schema-based cognitive therapy on cognitive fatigue and the quality of marital relationships of married women in the city of Amol. Method: The present research was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all women referring to Navid-e-Aramesh and Tolou-e-Mehr clinics in the city of Amol to receive counseling services concerning family problems in 2022, among them 30 people were selected by the convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (15 people each group). The Quality of Marital Relationships Questionnaire (1995), the Fatigue Questionnaire (1994), and Young et al.’s Schema-Based Cognitive Therapy Protocol (2003) were used for ten 60-minute sessions for data collection, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and SPSS software version 22 were used for data analysis. Results: The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) results demonstrated a significant difference between the scores of the control and experimental groups (P=0.001). In general, schema-based cognitive therapy led to increasing the total score of the quality of marital relationships and decreasing cognitive fatigue. Conclusion: Using cognitive techniques, schema-based cognitive therapy culminates in improving the quality of marital relationships and decreasing cognitive fatigue of married women. Therefore, this program can be recommended as an appropriate intervention to improve marital relationships.

Keywords

• schema-based cognitive therapy
• cognitive fatigue