Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Marital Adjustment in Couples with ADHD Children

Abstract

This study’s objective was to evaluate the efficacy of emotion-oriented couple therapy on cognitive emotion regulation and marital adjustment in parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In this study, a single-case A-B-A design was utilized. In 2020, couples in Isfahan with children aged 7 to 11 years old and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder comprised the statistical population of this investigation. Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), Revised Marital Adjustment Scale (RDAS), and the fourth edition of the Swanson, Nolan and Pelham Scale (Parent Form) (SNAP-IV) were utilized in this study. Three couples were selected using purposive sampling and participated in eight sessions of emotion-focused couple therapy. The effect of the treatment was determined by calculating the percentage of non-overlapping data (POD) and the percentage of overlapping data (PND) using visual analysis and SPSS-20 statistical software. The results showed that emotion-oriented couple therapy had a positive and statistically significant effect on cognitive regulation of emotion and marital adjustment of parents with children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (PND= 66/67% to 100%), and that the treatment’s effects persisted during follow-up. Based on the findings of the current study, emotion-focused couple therapy can be used as an effective intervention to improve adjustment and emotion regulation in couples with children who have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Keywords

• attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder
• cognitive emotion regulation
• emotion-focused couple therapy
• marital adjustment