Comparing the effectiveness of emotional couple therapy and cognitive behavioral couple therapy on marital burnout and couple satisfaction

Subject Areas : Psychology of couples

Nazanin Ramezani ¹ , Marziyeh Hatami ² , Mojtaba Amirdosara ³ , Behnaz Bagher ⁴ , Mehri Mohammadi ⁵

1 - (Corresponding Author) Master of Science in General Psychology, Roudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen, Iran, [e-mail], tell: 09125041894
2 - M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Yazd Branch, Yazd, Iran
3 - M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Yazd Branch, Yazd, Iran
4 - M.A. in Counseling and Guidance, Department of Counseling, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Roudehen, Iran.
5 - M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad Branch, Najafabad, Iran

Received: 2024-04-20 Accepted : 2024-06-05 Published : 2025-11-27

Keywords: cognitive-behavioral couples therapy, emotion-focused couples therapy, marital burnout, Sexual satisfaction,

Abstract :

© 2020 The Author(s). This work is published by family and health as an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of marital incompatibility and its impact on the physical and mental health of couples and children has led mental health professionals to pay special attention to the field of couples therapy. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused couple therapy and cognitive-behavioral couple therapy on marital burnout and sexual satisfaction of couples.

Research Method: The research design was a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test. For this purpose, 30 couples (60 people) from Tehran were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to three groups (two experimental groups and one control group). First, the couples answered a questionnaire on marital burnout and sexual satisfaction, then the individuals in the experimental group were trained in emotion-focused couple therapy and cognitive-behavioral couple therapy for 10 sessions of 90 minutes. SPPS-24 software and repeated-measures analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.

Findings: The results of the comparison of the pre-test and post-test of the two groups showed that emotion-focused couple therapy and cognitive-behavioral couple therapy training had a significant effect on reducing marital burnout and improving couples' sexual satisfaction.

Conclusion: As a result, emotion-focused couple therapy and cognitive-behavioral couple therapy had a significant effect on reducing marital burnout and improving couples' sexual satisfaction, and the results of this study can be used to reduce marital problems.

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